It had been three months since his "rebirth".
Two of them Paul had passed in his creator's cellar training.
But no training could prepare him for what was to follow.
His days were lonely. Well most of the time he spent them sleeping, hiding from the deadly sun, but there were days when he couldn't sleep, haunted by ghosts of the past and the fear for the night to come.
And his nights were also a living hell.
Even his own shadow terrified him, after all Nansy had told him that some vampires hold powers even over shadows.
He rarely answered his phone or his doorbell, only when he saw his parents' number because he didn't want to worry them and put them in danger if they ever came to visit him.
Now that he knew what Thessaloniki's nights hid, he didn't want to risk his parents getting hurt or go missing while he would know what could have happened to them.
Fortunately no one had noticed his weird behavior. His school had been closed for repairs since it had been greatly damaged by the fire and his few fellow students were mourning the loss of all the others on that tragic night.
He would risk to go out during the nights only when he felt his inner beast stirring from thirst and he would only feed on homeless strangers and not just random bypassers.
Even those brief moments out, he felt eyes burning on his back, he was seeing enemies everywhere.
"This has to stop." he was thinking, but having tasted immortality he was deeply afraid of losing it.
"I need to find a way to feed without risking going outside every night''
And he did find a way...
The apartment next to his was up for rent or sale.
And Paul called its owner and rented it.
One of the good things of being a vampire is that you need not spend money on food so he could afford a second house with the money his parents were sending him each month.
He bought some furniture for the new house and made it look like a normal apartment.
The last step of his plan was the tricky one.
He needed to find people that in exchange for a home and food would give him their blood for a weird experiment of his.
They needed to be so desperate that they wouldn't ask many questions about him and his purposes.
So with great care he headed to the abandoned warehouses at the train station.
This place, although abandoned for more than three decades, was full of life both day and night.
Homeless people, drug addicts, hookers and drug dealers used it as their home and "playground".
Even the police wouldn't risk entering there unless necessary.
For him though it was too easy to enter and move about unnoticed.
His stealth tricks he had learned from Nansy were almost impervious to human eyes and ears.
He needn't hurry, he had to be picky and careful unless he wanted to lose his cover and get exposed.
After a few days he had found some people that matched his needs.
They seemed like tourists that had run out of money probably from some drug addiction.
Well he could offer them a drug they would never forget.
And that he did. One by one he moved them, unconsious, to their new home.
Got them new clothes and brought them food and drinks.
Especially drinks, mixed with some of his blood!!!
Soon those three were so enthralled by him that they agreed to stay in that house and give him some blood every now and then, without second thought, in return for that wonderful drug he was offering them.
"Tragic irony" he was thinking ''the same blood they drink is the one that comes from them.''
He also found Apostolos, he looked like an ordinary lowlife homeless guy but in his eyes he saw the sparkle of intelligence and quick wits.
Approaching him should be different.
So he started visiting Apostolos pretending to be a runaway teenager and talked with him.
Apostolos had been a business man a few years ago. He had made mistakes believing in his so called "friends" and one day found his business on sale owing money to the state and his wife in the embrace of his closest friend.
From a mid-class businessman he had become a hopeless, homeless guy waiting for death or some other darker fate to find him.
Apostolos though hadn't given up on himself yet. Every time he swore that he would get revenge for what had happened to him.
That was Paul's chance and he wouldn't waste it.
-Apostolos I need to ask you something, he told him.
-Anything Paul...
-What would you give to get a portion of your life back and maybe some sort of revenge?
-What would I give? Everything...my soul, my life, everything.
-And what would you say if I told you that I can make that happen?
-You? How?
-Well I can't tell you right now. It's a secret of mine but I promise you that you will find out soon enough.
-What do i have to do?
-You only have to drink something I will be giving you for the next three or four days.
-And what will that be?
-Do you really want to know?
-I think i deserve to...
-My blood...
-Are you the devil?
-No Apostolos, I am not. So will you?
-Can you promise no harm will come to me?
-I promise on my blood Apostolos that no harm will come to you by me or by my will, fair enough?
-Well better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.
That way their deal was sealed and Apostolos became a ghoul, a living servant for Paul.
And to be honest with himself, Apostolos liked it, his new status was weird and dangerous but he had a life again and his master wasn't that bad, neither did he demand anything weird of him.
And also Paul had promised to help him exact his revenge for what had happened to him, someday.
And he had time to wait. As long as he drunk regularly from Paul's blood he would be healthy and young for a long long time.
Three months from that night at the university and Paul was still afraid to go out if it wasn't important.
Apostolos was finishing his daily chores at Paul's house and then he would go to the other one, where the three blood sacks, as he was calling them, were staying.
They were ghouls too but not to serve like him. They were just humans that his master used to satisfy his thirst.
-Are you sure Mr. Paul you don't need anything?
-Yes Apostolos, I am sure, for the sixth time tonight, I am just fine. Finish your work and go get some rest.
-I hate to see you stay inside master..
-What have I told you?
-Not master, mister, I know,sorry.
-Still I hate to see you stay inside, you look like a caged bird longing for freedom.
-Are you a poet now Apostolos?
-I only spoke my mind ma..mister. Please go out and try to find something to enjoy before the summer, now that the nights are still long and the roads less crowded.
-You don't understand, its not that easy. I wish it was...
-If you want my opinion Sir, what's the point of being immortal if you are not living? said Apostolos and went on to continue with his work in the other house.
-Well what is the point? Paul asked himself aloud.
Tonight the university had an event to honor the students who had died in the fire.
Paul was sure almost everyone would be there.
"Oh, to Hell with the other vampires I am going too!" he said aloud, more so that he himself would believe it and started to prepare.
Two of them Paul had passed in his creator's cellar training.
But no training could prepare him for what was to follow.
His days were lonely. Well most of the time he spent them sleeping, hiding from the deadly sun, but there were days when he couldn't sleep, haunted by ghosts of the past and the fear for the night to come.
And his nights were also a living hell.
Even his own shadow terrified him, after all Nansy had told him that some vampires hold powers even over shadows.
He rarely answered his phone or his doorbell, only when he saw his parents' number because he didn't want to worry them and put them in danger if they ever came to visit him.
Now that he knew what Thessaloniki's nights hid, he didn't want to risk his parents getting hurt or go missing while he would know what could have happened to them.
Fortunately no one had noticed his weird behavior. His school had been closed for repairs since it had been greatly damaged by the fire and his few fellow students were mourning the loss of all the others on that tragic night.
He would risk to go out during the nights only when he felt his inner beast stirring from thirst and he would only feed on homeless strangers and not just random bypassers.
Even those brief moments out, he felt eyes burning on his back, he was seeing enemies everywhere.
"This has to stop." he was thinking, but having tasted immortality he was deeply afraid of losing it.
"I need to find a way to feed without risking going outside every night''
And he did find a way...
The apartment next to his was up for rent or sale.
And Paul called its owner and rented it.
One of the good things of being a vampire is that you need not spend money on food so he could afford a second house with the money his parents were sending him each month.
He bought some furniture for the new house and made it look like a normal apartment.
The last step of his plan was the tricky one.
He needed to find people that in exchange for a home and food would give him their blood for a weird experiment of his.
They needed to be so desperate that they wouldn't ask many questions about him and his purposes.
So with great care he headed to the abandoned warehouses at the train station.
This place, although abandoned for more than three decades, was full of life both day and night.
Homeless people, drug addicts, hookers and drug dealers used it as their home and "playground".
Even the police wouldn't risk entering there unless necessary.
For him though it was too easy to enter and move about unnoticed.
His stealth tricks he had learned from Nansy were almost impervious to human eyes and ears.
He needn't hurry, he had to be picky and careful unless he wanted to lose his cover and get exposed.
After a few days he had found some people that matched his needs.
They seemed like tourists that had run out of money probably from some drug addiction.
Well he could offer them a drug they would never forget.
And that he did. One by one he moved them, unconsious, to their new home.
Got them new clothes and brought them food and drinks.
Especially drinks, mixed with some of his blood!!!
Soon those three were so enthralled by him that they agreed to stay in that house and give him some blood every now and then, without second thought, in return for that wonderful drug he was offering them.
"Tragic irony" he was thinking ''the same blood they drink is the one that comes from them.''
He also found Apostolos, he looked like an ordinary lowlife homeless guy but in his eyes he saw the sparkle of intelligence and quick wits.
Approaching him should be different.
So he started visiting Apostolos pretending to be a runaway teenager and talked with him.
Apostolos had been a business man a few years ago. He had made mistakes believing in his so called "friends" and one day found his business on sale owing money to the state and his wife in the embrace of his closest friend.
From a mid-class businessman he had become a hopeless, homeless guy waiting for death or some other darker fate to find him.
Apostolos though hadn't given up on himself yet. Every time he swore that he would get revenge for what had happened to him.
That was Paul's chance and he wouldn't waste it.
-Apostolos I need to ask you something, he told him.
-Anything Paul...
-What would you give to get a portion of your life back and maybe some sort of revenge?
-What would I give? Everything...my soul, my life, everything.
-And what would you say if I told you that I can make that happen?
-You? How?
-Well I can't tell you right now. It's a secret of mine but I promise you that you will find out soon enough.
-What do i have to do?
-You only have to drink something I will be giving you for the next three or four days.
-And what will that be?
-Do you really want to know?
-I think i deserve to...
-My blood...
-Are you the devil?
-No Apostolos, I am not. So will you?
-Can you promise no harm will come to me?
-I promise on my blood Apostolos that no harm will come to you by me or by my will, fair enough?
-Well better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.
That way their deal was sealed and Apostolos became a ghoul, a living servant for Paul.
And to be honest with himself, Apostolos liked it, his new status was weird and dangerous but he had a life again and his master wasn't that bad, neither did he demand anything weird of him.
And also Paul had promised to help him exact his revenge for what had happened to him, someday.
And he had time to wait. As long as he drunk regularly from Paul's blood he would be healthy and young for a long long time.
Three months from that night at the university and Paul was still afraid to go out if it wasn't important.
Apostolos was finishing his daily chores at Paul's house and then he would go to the other one, where the three blood sacks, as he was calling them, were staying.
They were ghouls too but not to serve like him. They were just humans that his master used to satisfy his thirst.
-Are you sure Mr. Paul you don't need anything?
-Yes Apostolos, I am sure, for the sixth time tonight, I am just fine. Finish your work and go get some rest.
-I hate to see you stay inside master..
-What have I told you?
-Not master, mister, I know,sorry.
-Still I hate to see you stay inside, you look like a caged bird longing for freedom.
-Are you a poet now Apostolos?
-I only spoke my mind ma..mister. Please go out and try to find something to enjoy before the summer, now that the nights are still long and the roads less crowded.
-You don't understand, its not that easy. I wish it was...
-If you want my opinion Sir, what's the point of being immortal if you are not living? said Apostolos and went on to continue with his work in the other house.
-Well what is the point? Paul asked himself aloud.
Tonight the university had an event to honor the students who had died in the fire.
Paul was sure almost everyone would be there.
"Oh, to Hell with the other vampires I am going too!" he said aloud, more so that he himself would believe it and started to prepare.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου