Chapter 2

Lucius just stared back at the mysterious enigma of a man who had announced himself as Cipher. ‘Who is this person and how does he know my name?’ he thought as he gazed at Cipher’s cool and calm face. His blond hair stuck to his forehead due to the rain that dripped down it.
“How do you know my name?” Asked Lucius, he searched deep inside himself to find enough courage to say this.
At this Cipher just chuckled. He stepped over the corpse of the young girl, not being fazed at all. Pacing around the room with an awe of nobility around him, he wandered towards the mirror hanging over the mantelpiece and inspected himself. “Do you know it is extremely difficult for my hair to look blonde when it’s wet? And yet it does. One of my incredible abilities I would say.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“No I suppose I didn’t, but then again…” He turned away from the mirror at this point. “, why should I?” Seemingly satisfied with his response he began to put his hair into different styles. “Lucius I think we should go into the other room at this point, there should be a fire place and I am freezing.”
“Well Captain Vanity I feel like you aren’t telling me the whole story so please would you be so kind as to do so?” Lucius asked grudgingly. He looked around the room for anything he could use as a weapon in case this Cipher character turned violent. After his eyes locked onto a rusty, metal pike resting near the wall he looked back up at Cipher.
“Well is that any way to treat family?” Chuckling Cipher looked back around, is blonde hair almost covering his eyes.
“What do you mean by that?” Snarled Lucius, he edged slowly towards the rusty pike not wanting to alert Cipher to his presence.
“I mean that if you come with me into the lounge room I will tell you the answers to those questions and more.” He parted his hair to the sides of his face, and then began to examine his teeth, which were a rich, pearly white. “So Lucius, what do you say.”
“I say,” His hand clasped around the rusty metal spike, small flanks of red iron peeled off and fell to the floor. Raising it over his head he prepared to swing it down onto the unaware Cipher’s blonde head. “...burn in hell.” He swung the spike as hard and fast as he possibly could. It swept towards Cipher skull in a perfect arc.
It never hit his head. Instead it was now clasped in the hands of a demon. It’s nails sharpened to points and covered with a red dust. It had moved so fast that the movement hadn’t registered to Lucius at all. The beast smirked to reveal a mouth full of sharp, ripping teeth; it’s animal like yellow eyes examining him with a human intellect.
“Come now Lucius. Are you really going to kill two people in one night? Look at the damaged you have already caused.” It gestured towards the frail body of the girl lying in the doorway. Tears began to well up in Lucius’ eyes.
He dropped the metal spike to the floor and began to breathe profoundly. “We’re the same?”
“Pardon?”
“Your face…” Lucius struggled to find the words he wanted to say “, it looked like mine when it…”
“Changed?” Asked the beast, chuckling. As he said this his face changed, with the rows of jagged teeth descending back into it’s gums. The yellow eyes processed by the demon filled up with the deep dark blue of the sea. Cipher had returned. “Do you know why?”
“We ARE the same.” He said frustrated.
“Bingo. It is true we are of the same species.” Said Cipher with an evil smirk on his face.
“What are we then?” Demanded Lucius; almost spitting the words at Cipher.
“Come out into the lounge and I will tell you.” This time instead of waiting for an answer he darted out from the hallway and into the lounge room. Before Lucius had time to react he could feel the warmth of a roaring fire.
Lucius hesitantly followed Cipher into the room. As he marched he examined the rest of the household. It was bright thanks to the crackling fire in the next room, he could see the inside of the house appeared to be made of a yellow wood. It was surprisingly dry when one thought of the tempest occurring outside.
When Lucius entered the lounge room he saw three wooden chairs that had been hastily thrown together. They looked like they could hold his weight but he didn’t wish to risk it. They cast long shadows on the floor and surrounded a similarly constructed circular table. These pieces of furniture surrounded the fireplace.
It was exquisitely carved, totally out of place in this poor, wooden house. It appeared to be marble, with the image of a rose carved into it in huge flowing lines. It’s cleanliness was astounding considering the fires that must have roared in it. Even now with the huge, yellow fire, not a trace of soot could be found.
Sitting on one of the chairs next to the fireplace was Cipher. Half of his face was completely shrouded in shadow while the other was as clearly shown as if the blaze of the sun was cast upon him. His eyes shown in the fierce light, as did his blonde hair. Upon his face he wore that same dark smile.
“Sit, would you please.” He gestured towards the chair directly opposite him. Lucius marched over to the chair and sat cautiously.
“Oh please Lucius. If I had wanted to kill you I would have used that pike, although it wouldn’t have done any good.” He placed down two teacups on the table, as well as pulling out a small metal flask. “Drink?”
“No thanks. I’m good.” Lucius said menacingly.
“Such a shame. Well I hope you don’t mind, I will be having one.” He opened the flask and poured some of the liquid into the elegant, little, china teacup. The liquid was a deep crimson colour. “You sure you don’t want some?” Asked Cipher, as he snickered away at his own private joke.
“I’m sure.” However even as Lucius spoke these words the haunting smell of the red liquid entangled him in it’s web. He was intoxicated; all he could think about was the marvellous smell that emanated from the liquid. His chest began to constrict once more in the same hunger pains as when he saw that girl. “Put it away!” He demanded.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t quite hear that.” Said Cipher mockingly. He pulled the teacup up to his lips and took his first sip, not a drop touching his lips.
“Put…it…away!” Demanded Lucius, in a slow menacing tone. Upon the site of Cipher sipping the liquid his chest constricted even further. The pain was mmense.
“I’m sorry, wha…?”
“PUT IT AWAY NOW!!!” Roared Lucius. The pain was like a fire in his chest.
“Fine.” Said Cipher, not even deterred. He took once last hurried sip (still not letting a drop touch his lips) and poured the last of the substance back into the flask. “Normally blood goes off very quickly once out of the body. But you have to love magic.” He shook the flask to emphasize his point, before putting it into his coat.
“That was blood?” Asked Lucius; the pain subsiding almost as soon as Cipher had put the flask away.
“Of course.” Cipher stared at Lucius as if he had made a joke. Lucius just gazed blankly back at him and slowly realization came to Cipher. “You don’t know what you are, do you?”
“I know I’m a demon and so are you.” Said Lucius, his voice filled with venom.
“Please,” Cipher laughed as he said this “… demons are nowhere near as civilized.” And almost as if it were an afterthought he said “Also demons were never humans.”
“Then what am I?” Lucius asked frustrated.
“Come on Lucius. You were a noble when you were human. You would have received the greatest education a bunch of apes could. You should know what we are. The blood, speed. You woke up in a coffin for Verone’s sake. Surely you know?”
He knew. Lucius could imagine only one thing that matched those symptoms, but a lump rose in his throat as he thought those horrid words. Could it be true? Could he be one of those monstrous beasts? He whispered it “A vampyr.”
“Lucius speak up. What are you?” Cipher asked this one without any humour evident in his voice.
“A vampyr.” He forced these words out.
“Bingo. Although our kind prefer to pronounce it vampire. Flows better. Vampire; has such a good ring to it.” Cipher laughed at this.
“I can’t be one of those things.”
“First off, that is rather racist. Secondly you’re being a hypocrite. You’re a vampire. Deal with it.”
“So what. I’m just supposed to deal with the fact that I will be drinking the blood of innocents for the rest of my now extremely long life. Yes I can deal with that!” Lucius said this with anger ripe in his voice.
“See you continue to be racist. Vampires just need to drink blood, it doesn’t matter what source it comes from.”
“So you don’t drink human blood?” Lucius asked, his eyes filled hope.
“I never said that.” Cipher didn’t look at Lucius as he said this instead he was pulling splinters off his wooden chair.
“But you said…”
“That we don’t have to drink human blood. It does taste better.” Said Cipher manner-of-factly.
“And you don’t care that you are killing humans?” Asked Lucius in disgust.
“No.” Cipher began to scrape dirt from underneath his fingernails.
“I get the impression that you really want me to stop talking.” Lucius said this bluntly.
“Would you? I would prefer to just explain some things to you.” Cipher sighed, a look of boredom painted on his face.
“Like what?”
Cipher looked back up at Lucius to begin his speech. He put as much emphasize as possible into this one sentence. “The physical laws of the vampire.”
“What? There are laws.”
“In much the same way that humans need to eat food, we have certain behaviours that govern how we survive.”
“Such as?”
“We need to drink blood.”
“Wow, a revelation. I never knew that. This will change my life. Thank you Cipher, for all you have done.” Lucius said in a monotonous drawl.
“Shut up Lucius, this is important.” For the first time since they had met, Cipher was being serious. “You only have to drink once a month. There are other things as well but the only one you need to know at the moment is that vampires catch fire when we go into sunlight.”
“Ouch.” Lucius exclaimed a little surprised. He had heard stories that the vampyr didn’t go out in the day, but that seemed…
“Oh yeh, ‘when the children of Melakor enter the light cast down by the purity, golden flames will erupt from their body to cleanse the darkness from their soul.’” Cipher began to chuckle “Or so it does say in ‘The Tome of Verone’. I do love the classics. However they do manage to describe the effects miraculously well. Such a shame the only copies were locked away in New Bessa, if I remember correctly, you’re father had his hand in that.”
Lucius didn’t care. He stared through a window in the wall to his right. Branches were tossed around effortlessly almost as if they were a boat on the sea. The rain could be heard pounding on the roof, like the hammering of a giant. The lightning had finally gone.
All of this gave Lucius a matter of perspective. The poor girl who laid dead at the entrance to this homestead her suffering had just begun. Remembering the rites of his people, Lucius knew what he had to do.
“Are you done?” He asked Cipher. For the first time since he had killed that girl, he did not cry over her death, he was too full of a fierce determination.
“There is some other information that you should probably know; but that is about all you need at the moment.” Cipher didn’t seem to have noticed any change in Lucius, in fact he seemed sought of relieved their conversation was over. “I have the bedroom upstairs, if there is another one, you can have it.”
“Fine.” Lucius was a statue; he just continued to stare out through the window. The footsteps of Cipher slowly faded behind him. He got up gradually, the chair creaking under him. He doused out the fire and then headed towards the basement.

He spent the next hour in that basement. It was dark and damp, yet much dryer than outside the home. It had a rough dirt floor, and was poorly lit, with no gas lamps and only one rack for a flaming brazier. But even with these few problems, it was the perfect place for what he had in mind.
He pulled a shovel from the side of the basement. It had a slimy, green handle causing his hands to constantly slip down it. The metal spade on the end was caked in mud, but could still be used successfully.
Walking to the centre of the room, he stood in recognition of the following task, before he continued. He began to dig a rectangular hole in the ground 1.5 metres deep, 2.5 metres long and 1 metre wide. His task was filled with determination, because it was the only way to feel anything besides guilt.
Sweat was slick on his forehead. His arms and back ached, his eyelids slowly drooping. His whole body felt like it was going to collapse.
Finally he had dug the whole and he went to the body of the poor girl. He wrapped her in a white sheet and tied it onto her with some spare rope. Ever so carefully he placed the body into the tomb. Once properly aligned he hopped back out and began to shovel the dirt back into the grave.
This task was much easier, because the soil was loose. However Lucius still felt an immense mental strain due to the guilt of his actions. Tired and weary he shovelled the last spade of dirt into the grave.
He then began the most important part of the ceremony. According to the beliefs of his people, the soul could not pass into the next life until the body had been buried and the proper rites had been said. He was an educated man and therefore could perform the rituals.
“By the...,” The lump in his throat prevented him from talking, actually giving him physical pain if he did so. He choked down these words and had to start over.
With determination he spoke these words again, “By the power of Galinti, who gave unto this world the gift of sound, follow my voice, to the light of the purity.” A moment’s pause before he walked over to the opposite side of the grave and begun the rites again. He did this two more times, before he bowed his head and collapsed onto the ground.
He lay crying on the dirt. Tears streamed down his face and pooled into puddles on the rough, dry soil. His last thought before falling to sleep was ‘Is this my life now?’