As he waited for her arrival, he found himself slowly dosing off. No matter how many all-nighters he pulled during his time with her, he still sometimes found himself slipping back into his natural sleep cycle. That was one thing he was looking forward to about this ordeal: he would go back to having a more consistent sleeping schedule. Eventually he drifted off into sleep.
He wasn’t sure how many hours had passed, but he woke up to a tapping at his window. He sat up and looked out, to see a bat hovering outside the glass. It had to have been her; that or it was an actual bat, and he was about to risk getting rabies. There was only one way to find out, so he went and opened the window. It flew in, flapping its wings and squeaking for a moment before morphing back into a more human shape. As he guessed, it was Lilith.
She was wearing a black button-up shirt and red suit vest, along with matching black pants and a cape. He found himself staring at her, for she looked like a countess of old. “I have come for you.” She said, extending a hand of invitation. “It’s time for your induction.”
“We’re going through with it now…” his heart began beating out of his chest as his eyes dazzled “So you really will marry me?!”
She gave him a fanged smile. “Yes, my darling. There is no doubt in my mind that I want to marry you. Soon you will be inducted into the house and become a fully converted immortal.”
He ran up and embraced her, tightly clinging to her. “I accept!” He exclaimed. “I love you!” He had always imagined the proposal to be one of them getting down on one knee and offering a ring, but it seemed vampires had different traditions on that front. Nonetheless, it still felt romantic in its own gothic way.
The image of the small, excited man holding onto her was ruining the intimidating veneer she’d been setting up. But it couldn’t be helped, so she hugged him back.
He broke out of the embrace, his eyes and cheeks practically glowing. “This is incredible! I know we’ve been dating for over a year, but it feels like it’s gone by so quickly! And what a cool way to propose, you’ve got the cape and everything! I can’t wait for our wedding!” He began pacing as he thought about the future ceremony. “Oh, I should get a nice dress! You would look good in a suit, but it would also be cool if we both wore dresses! It’s whatever you’re feeling on that front, as long as I’m in a dress. Oh, and where do you think we should host it? A park would be nice, or maybe we can do it near your mansion.”
“Alex.” She grabbed him by the shoulder and gave him a gentle smile. “I do believe we have one thing to take care of before that?”
“Oh, right of course!” He released a sigh, realizing he was getting too worked up. After calming himself down a little, he looked back up to her with a loving gaze. Pulling his shirt collar down, he titled his head back so that his neck was completely exposed. “Take me.”
“Of course, my dear.” She kneeled down to his level, and gently held him by the shoulders. She opened her mouth, releasing a soft hiss as her fanged mouth came to his throat. Then, he felt her teeth sinking into his skin. Her fangs quickly pierced the skin like needles, and he felt a stinging pain. Then, as if he were taking a shot, the pain eased. He could feel his blood being drained, which was accompanied by the sound of her slurping and gulps. As he imagined, there was something oddly sensual about the experience.
She briefly pulled out and licked her lips. “Your blood is simply delicious. I don’t recall the last time I drank fresh human blood.”
“Are we done?”
“Oh no, I was simply taking a breath. In order for this to work,” she continued, tucking his hair behind his ears “I must drink more of your blood and imbue you with some of my powers. Only then will you be turned. So if you don’t mind,” she leaned back in “I’ll be helping myself to more.” She then sank her teeth back into the wound she’d left, sucking up more of his blood.
As the ritual continued, he could feel himself being drained. He didn’t feel like he was gaining anything new, and the blood loss was making him feel increasingly lightheaded. Still, he’d been with her long enough that he completely trusted her. He closed his eyes in surrender, feeling more of himself be drained as a pounding headache developed. After a point the outside world almost began to fade away, and all he could hear was her sucking and his heartbeat. He slowly began to lose himself, and eventually everything faded.
While Alex was passed out, he had a disturbing dream. In it, he was standing in front of a gate, in the middle of a black void. The gate opened, and a mass of tentacles came pouring out of it. They waved around briefly before reaching out and grabbing him. He was drug inside the gate, and it slammed behind him.
When he was released from the tentacles’ grasp, he found himself standing before a hooded figure. He didn’t know who or what they were, and their dark robes hid all their features. They spoke to him in a deep and echoey voice, saying “she has cast her spell on you, and now it shall begin: the dance of immortality.”
After they finished that sentence, they started moving closer to him. The phantom did not walk, but instead simply hovered towards him like a ghost. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt a sense of danger from this strange being and he didn’t want them to get any closer. He tried to move but he couldn’t. Paralyzed, all he could do was watch as they got ever closer to him. When they were right in front of his face, he began hyperventilating before waking up.
He shot awake in a cold sweat. Sitting up, he clinched the sheets and breathed heavily. He looked around, then realized that he was in his bed. He barely had time to get his bearings when he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.
“Alex, you’ve finally awoken!” He looked to his right to see Lilith standing across the room, a look of relief on her face. Running to the side of his bed, she held him by the hands. “Are you feeling alright?” She asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine I guess. I do feel kinda groggy, though.”
“Well, you were asleep for 2 days so that might be why. I’ve hardly left your side since you passed out, but I knew you would wake up again. Because the ritual was a success, you’ve turned!”
“Wait, so I’m a vampire now?” He looked around. “What do I look like now? I need to get in front of a mirror.”
She lowered her head. “Darling…think about what you just said.”
“Oh, fuck.” He slumped his shoulders. “This is going to take getting used to, I can tell.”
“Well to answer your question, I think you look wonderful. Especially your eyes, they’ve turned a bright red and it looks rather lovely. Also,” she looked at the bite mark on his neck “it seems your wound hasn’t fully recovered yet. It’s like I’ve marked you.”