“If birth determines what a man may become, then I will become something no man can command.” the motto of Alexandre. Hear now the story of one man’s plight and to become one of the most aggressive and devious vampires to ever be sired.
—–
Alexandre was a young man with long black hair and dark brown eyes that seemed to penetrate your very soul. He was well built from long hours working for his father on the farm. His skin was always in a constant state of tan since he spent all time outside. He was a nature loving person but he had dreams of not being a farmhand his whole life.
He had been born into the poor man’s life with aspirations to grow and become better than his father. His father had been a kind and gentle man who had cropped for the local Lord.
That Lord was not what anyone wanted to work for. He was cruel, forcing his peasants and farmers to work long and hard with no real chance to get ahead. He punished them for every rule infraction that they did. He didn’t care if his people died, all he needed was the crops and the money.
Alexandre though he was a powerful man in his own right he hated the life he was born into and he knew he had only one way out and that was a dangerous way. If he went and somehow became one of the Creatures of the Night. They were evil and dangerous but he knew he could become one of the most powerful of the Vampires.
He knew of course where one of their places was where they inhabited as well as the place of business that they used to get the blood that they required. He had spent the last 5 years finding out more about those who walked at night. He had even been to the whore house that they had used in France at one point and donated his blood. They didn’t know that he was able to remember his interaction as he was able to shield his mind and prevent the mind wiping that they had used on many others.
He did have his mind shielding and he had spent a lot of time trying to protect his mind. He had other powers that were more in line with his past. He had hoped that when he was changed he would be able to gain more powers. He had tracked the Vampiric Whores and he would get them to change him to be one of the undead.
The lady that he knew was Elaine the Shining Light of Blood. Aurelie was another of the vampires that he had met before and she was even stranger. She was such pale white and she had a vibrancy to her red hair. She definitely didn’t seem French to him. The one he truly wanted was Brigitte who was the mother of them all. She was powerful and had so much strength that she could easily destroy anyone.
————————————————
It had taken a couple of months to track down the house. It was a large Mansion and from what he gained from his contacts in the city was that there were at least 12 members living here including Brigitte the Strength and Sire or the family
Brigitte didn’t service clients very often; she was Ancient and didn’t need the same amount of blood that the others needed. He heard that she had powers that were greater than many. They also had given her a nickname of Baroness.
Slowly he walked up to the door of a house full of ill repute. He entered and saw the beautiful lady with long dark hair that was curled and piled on top of her head. “Welcome to the House of the Bright Spirit. My name is Aurelie. How can I help you today?”
“Bonjour Madame. I am looking to speak to Brigitte. She is the lady who owns this house despite being a lady and having no husband. She has managed to run a business with no interference”
The beautiful face of Aurelie states passive as if this was a long practiced routine.
“There is no Brigitte here, monsieur.”
Alexandre responds: “Perhaps you know her as the Baroness.”
That’s when everything changes. The air around him seems to radiate with a red tinge as if the sun was going down. The door locks behind him.
The other women stop talking. Someone closes the curtains.
And Aurelie’s pleasant expression never disappears. She kept the calm exterior despite that what she really wanted was to rip the man limb from limb for his casual references to their nobles.
She smiled sweetly as the others began to move away. “This way Monsieur” she said in a syrupy voice.
She led him to the inner chamber and closed the door which automatically locked and a glow was now visible to the naked eye. Magic was all Alexandre could think of.
“You are either the bravest of men or the stupidest of men. I can’t determine which one you are.” said a more ethereal voice. “I am Aurelie. I will be the one determining your worthiness to see our most glorious leader”
“Come close to me mortal and give me your hands and look me in the eyes.”. He did as he was asked and reached out his hands. Aurelie had cold eyes but her hands for some reason felt warm. They should be cold. She wasn’t a living breathing person but an undead monster.
Aurelie gasped as she tried to touch his mind “Mon Dieu” she said exasperated. No mere human could block a vampire’s compulsion powers. This was unique and could bring him in line to become a power to be reckoned with. If he was controllable.
Alexandre laughed, it wasn’t the hearty laugh of humour but more of malicious haughty laughter. Arrogant as always “Something wrong Lady Aurelie?”
She glared at him, her powers of looking into the minds of others and glamouring them was powerless. It intrigued her and turned her on in ways nothing else had ever done. A man who was immune to her charms.
“How do you know the Baroness and her name?” she demanded
Alexandre smiled “That is between me and the Baroness, not some lackey who holds no power in this court”
She casually reached over and with her long nails slashed at his chest. The shirt peeled open revealing the muscular chest that now sported 4 scratch marks on his throat and blood trickled down..
Licking her lips seductively she let the feral grin come out. “That’s not how this works. Now tell me before I torture it out of you”
He looked at her and saw the determination in her eyes and knew that she was quite capable of doing what she said. The fact that she didn’t pounce on him to get his blood was not normal. Most of the bloodsuckers would jump on him and drain him dry. She has no mere underling.
When he didn’t answer she threatened.
“You have ten seconds to convince me not to kill you.”
He smiled a sadistic smile
“Elaine feeds every third Thursday. Aurelie hasn’t killed anyone in eleven years. You haven’t returned to Ireland since 1712. And Brigitte sleeps beneath this house, not above it.”
She looked at him in shock. He knew stuff that no one should know, including most of the lower minions that they kept around. She reached out to use her nails to carve out more of his body.
“STOP” She heard the shout in both her mind and with her ears. She was compelled to obey. She stopped herself mid slash and pulled her hand back.
“Aurelie that is no way to treat our guest”
She was unlike Aurelie. Her hair was long and black as the midnight sky. Her eyes were more amber coloured. She walked with purpose wearing high heels that made her 4 inches taller. Her demeanour was pleasant but he could see a confidence that many ladies of the day didn’t have.
He bowed to her in a gentlemanly fashion and opened his mouth. She cut him off before the words could escape his mouth.
“You think courage brought you here.”
Alexandre smiled. “Didn’t it?”
“No.”
Brigitte moved closer.
“Hunger did. I know what you have come here for. Tell me why you wish that and why I should grant your request?”. The look she gave him was as if he was a flea.
He looked at her and knew that she was more than his equal and she didn’t need to show force like he did. She exuded power without even trying.
“Because I want to be powerful.”
She smiled in an amused way “Power you want power. That is no reason puny human for me to grant you the unliving that you have requested.”
He shrank into himself slightly more and then said in a quiet voice “Men tell me I was born to kneel. You were born human once, Baroness. Yet here you stand while generations of kings rot beneath churches. I do not ask you to save me from death. I ask you to give me enough time to become greater than the men who believe they own me.”
Brigitte was impressed by his thought and the fact that he had thought about this and even prepared. He wasn’t one who shied away from the monsters in fact he wanted to become the monster.
“Every mortal who comes seeking immortality believes death is the price. Death is the smallest price.”
She looked at him. “You want to be embraced then bring your Lord back to me here”
Alexandre was grinning he would get his revenge now. She was going to turn him so that he could murder the monster of a Lord.
He left smiling feeling a lightness of heart that he hadn’t ever felt in his life. The Lord was an evil man who controlled others with the power he was wielding. It wasn’t because he did anything useful, it was what he was born with. That man was a monster.
He opened his mind, the mental fortress closed in smaller around himself so that he could detect the lives around him. It was one of his powers that his attunement to the natural world he could sense others.
Going to the Lord’s estate was not the standard for one as low as he was. He knew that the Lord himself would not deal with peasants except to brutalize them. When a judge ordered whippings to be carried out the Lord and his eldest son were the people who flogged them. They were very hands on in that way. They also execute people on the spot without trials.
He knew the only way he would get in was public whipping as he wanted the peasants to watch someone get beaten. He knew a few who were on trial, so he checked the records sentencing would be today and that might be a lucky break for him.
—–
The court house was full with people as a merchant’s son was being sentenced. “You have broken countless laws and had your father not paid a hefty fine for your actions, your punishment would mean your life was forfeit. However as you are a merchant class and the fine paid we will not take your life, but there is a penalty and that is being whipped. You will receive 25 lashes of the whip by the young Lordling. This is meant to ensure you don’t commit a crime again.”
The father watched and was happy. His son wasn’t going to get killed but a whipping was horrid, at least he would be alive.
They dragged him away and the judge spoke. “The young Lordling invites you to the keep where a public flogging will take place.”
Alexandre was lucky as they had scheduled the whipping and he would be able to sneak further into the keep to be able to talk and convince the Lord to follow him.
He rushed over like most of the people. They hated the Lord but everyone wanted the criminal punished harshly and loved the spectacle.
They watched as the man was stripped of his shirt and hanged by his wrist with chains. As you could see him shiver but it was far from being cold. He could see sweat starting to form on the chest as it touched the metal pole of the whipping post.
He knew that sweat would make this worse as the saltiness would enter the wounds and make it sting more. The Lordling grabbed his whip and began to flourish the whip before striking the upper back for the first of 25 stripes.
He heard the younger man scream. This is when Alexandre knew to take off. He could hear the whip striking flesh and the screaming of the criminal and wished to see it.
He made it to the Lord’s chambers. “Sir, there is an urgent matter at hand. An emissary has arrived and is waiting for you at the Inn. I was asked to escort you there.”
The Lord laughed “Go away. I am going nowhere at this point.”
Alexandre wouldn’t be dissuaded. “It’s from the Baron sir. He has said it is important and you must come or you could lose your position of power.”
“Enter. I will need your help in getting what is required.”. Alexandre smiled, it was now time to get the documents which he would present to his father. The deed to the modest house his father lived in with his new wife. This would be soon signed over with the little farm that they had.
He reached around and as they exited the place he opened his mind to the environment and avoided all of the guards.
They got close to the inn which is what everyone thought. They entered and he made motion and they were allowed access to the back room and further into the mansion then others would go.
Brigitte laughed when she saw the Lord. “Very good Alexandre, thank you for bringing him here. My Lord I have decided you need a replacement as you have constantly shown me and my ladies no mercy. Your son regularly comes here and beats any whore who doesn’t love up to what he expects.”
Two large men grab him and drag him to the dungeon. “Baroness, can I make a suggestion?”. She nodded “Let me do to him what he has done hundreds of times to those who he believes to have committed a crime. Let me question him with the whip.”
Brigitte smiled and nodded “Do as you want. He won’t be leaving here again “
——
The Lord was a well muscled man who had never worked a day in his life. He had been stripped of his upper body clothing and his wrists restrained to the cell bars.
Alexandre walked in and put his hand on the bare chest. He slowly put his fingers onto the nipple and pinched it. The Lord struggled and cursed the man out but wasn’t able to break free.
“Lord sign over this lease to the tenant or this gets much worse”
The Lord shook his head so Alexandre began flogging him with tentative strikes at first but getting more powerful with his confidence. The Lord has never been treated cruelly and was screaming.
He finally said he would sign. He whipped him a few more lashes bringing the total up to 50. Then released his hand and watched as the Lord reached out and signed the paper. His back was bloody from the whip.
“She said you were leaving here. Sign this as well as it will show that you committed serious crimes, both you and the Lordling and you have decided to take your own life. This is your only path to redemption.”
The Lord signed and then he was tied back up and Alexandre continued to flog him. It took two hours for the blood to seep out of his body and for him to die. It was nearly 500 lashes before he was finished with the Lord.
He walked out of the room and smiled as Aurelie and Brigitte were there. “So he gave you what you wanted. Now you still expect the vampiric power. I am impressed with your powers but you scare me with the intensity that I see in you. Come back in 3 days and I will have an answer from you. Good planning you did all these years especially with the criminal it will allow us to.out a shill in.”
Alexandre went to the courts and quickly handed in the confession and left without saying a word. Within the hour it had all gone down. The Lordling was captured by his own guards and hanged for treason. He couldn’t help but laugh at that in delight.
Finally Father will understand.
He went to the home farm where his father was and confessed it all and gave him the deed. “See Father you now own the property with no one else on the deed. Kindness doesn’t give you anything, you have to take what you can. I’d rather remain poor than own something purchased with another man’s blood”
He places the deed on the table.
Etienne learns what happened.
And then Etienne refuses the property.
His father Etienne looked horrified. “My son, you spent your entire life hating that man because he believed power gave him the right to decide the worth of others. Look at yourself, Alexandre. You haven’t defeated him. You’ve become him.”
He pointed at the door. “Get out of my house. You are no longer my son. Do not return there was a nothing here for your ever again”
——
Brigitte was very concerned after he had left the mansion. She hadn’t decided to have the Lord put to death. Alexandre had given too much away by using her title instead of her name.
The man was frustrating he had managed to not just do as she asked but had reinterpreted the demand. This was not going to be good, but he had passed the test. She was glad that vampires until they gained their strength would be unable to prevent their sires from controlling them when needed
Three days to decide what she should do. “Aurelie I need your help”
Aurelie entered “Yes Baroness?”
She nodded and motioned for her to sit “What do you think of the human”
Aurelie smiled “He intrigues me. I haven’t met a vampire or human who could keep me from their mind. He has power that I haven’t seen before and it excites me and I want him so very much”
She nodded “I didn’t intend to have the Lord killed just replaced. He used my title which would have us in an awkward situation. He tortured him to death even after he had signed the confession. His life was forfeit as he learned too much but Alexandre could have just ended the suffering instead the torture continued till he died. I am not sure about him”
Aurelie was not happy. She wanted him as a vampire especially as anyone who could keep her out would be something she could be with “I can turn him if you wish it wouldn’t be that hard. “
Her sire shook her head “No my darling. You know my thoughts on this. You making vampires drains your powers and you know the precarious spot we are in with the cadres. I want him to think more about this. I fear he will either be the best of us or the worst of us. Either one might cause us issues.”
——
Alexandre was out in the wilderness now trying to think through what had just happened. His father had disowned him and refused to take the land.
Nature had always been his friend but now it felt different. He was thinking that once he was embraced, life would be very different. No more walks in the sun or along the beaches. He was already without a family because he had become a monster in his family’s eyes.
He had no tent and no blankets. He was alone and for the first time it felt like he was helpless. He was sensing the life around him and was in utter disgust at what this life had given him. Was it so wrong to want more than to be a peasant to some Lord who would kill him for no other reason than he wanted to?
His father was wrong about this. He had done this all for his father but instead of being happy about having a home and a farm that was his alone he refused it and repudiated the person who was the one who cared for him.
He found a cave and slowly went in, having not sensed any form of life. He sat down on a rock that almost felt like a bench and put his head in his hands and the tears began to flow. This was not how it was meant to be, all he wanted was to be free and able to live a good life, all the while supporting his family.
Alexandre barricaded the entryway after an hour of crying. His eyes were red and sore and he still didn’t understand his father’s actions. He couldn’t go to the house yet as it hasn’t even been half a day. What was he going to do?
He had started to create different weapons out of wood as he could be required to defend himself and until he was a vampire he wouldn’t have natural weapons.
He finally slept, and what a sleep it was. He dreamed of the destruction he had caused and the power he gained. He also felt guilty that his father was never going to understand him and that he now had no family. The only family he would ever have is the family he creates himself.
——
Brigitte was still not sure about this man. Many of her children, as she called them, were for turning him. They were thinking of safety and that he was a man and could easily help guard them.
He has already proved that he wouldn’t hesitate to do what must be done. Delphine was the one who was against it. She was not a violent lady and she hated what happened here but she also couldn’t be bothered to stop it either. Delphine knew this was a person they needed as the Cadres were slowly closing in and even the Queen was starting to fall apart.
Aurelie was the one for it the most as she had been fascinated by his ability to shield his mind. This would be invaluable for the guards as well as for a lover, maybe for her. Too many of her peers were intimidated by her mental prowess that they never stayed long. This was someone who wouldn’t be impressed with it.
Finally Brigitte decided that if he still wanted the awakening that she would complete it. He would not be able to escape for centuries. It took a long time to break free from your master’s will.
——
As Alexandre entered the chamber he was adorned in a black robe that had buttons that allowed him to remove it quickly.
“Enter the house of the dead. Today you have been welcomed to House de Vauclaire. It’s an honourable house. I am Aurelie, the gate keeper of the house. You have passed the tests and have come through them. Can you walk in darkness always”
He stood up straight looking at them “I will walk no more in the light. I will shun the light and take nourishment only through blood.”
Brigitte stood up from her throne. She heard Delphine in her mind about this is her last chance to turn away from this course of action.
She ignored the thought “You have chosen to come to my house of your own free will as a human. We accept your sacrifice and take your blood as a way to sustain us. You have indeed proven yourself. Remove your cloak and step forward.”
Alexandre walked forward and ripped the cloak from his body. He was muscular and she could see the vein pulsating on neck. Slowly she licked her lips as she walked up. She turned him around. She sank her teeth into his neck.
—–
The storm had swallowed House de Vauclaire.
Alexandre fell to his knees before Brigitte.
His strength was gone.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears, each beat slower than the last as blood poured from the wounds in his neck.
Brigitte stood over him, beautiful and terrifying.
“You wanted to escape the life into which you were born,” she whispered.
Alexandre struggled to look up at her. “I wanted… to be free.”
Brigitte smiled, revealing bloodstained fangs.
“Then die free.”
She tore open her wrist with one fang and pressed it against his mouth. “Drink.”
The first taste burned.
Alexandre tried to pull away, but Brigitte held him against her wrist. “Drink!”
He obeyed.
Fire exploded through his body.
Alexandre collapsed, screaming as every muscle seized. His heart hammered violently.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
Nothing.
Silence filled the chamber.
Brigitte watched the dead man lying before her.
Seconds passed.
Then Alexandre’s eyes snapped open.
The world assaulted him at once. He could hear Brigitte’s breathing. Smell the blood beneath her skin. Hear servants walking beyond the walls.
And beneath everything came something far more powerful.
Hunger.
Alexandre slowly rose.
His tongue passed across newly formed fangs.
Brigitte smiled.
“Welcome to eternity, Alexandre.”
He looked toward the window, beyond which lay the lands where he had spent his mortal life bowing to men who believed themselves his betters.
A slow smile crossed his face.
“Now,” Alexandre whispered, “they will bow to me.”
Crazy Canadian Writing 