Chapter Three – Turning
#5 of Malachai Backstory
Chapter Three - Turning
Malachai groggily woke up the next day, wondering what possessed him to drink so much. I need to hold back from now on, he thought. As he headed to the bathroom for some aspirin, he remembered the image that had bugged him last night. Now that he was more awake, he could think clearly about it. Where did I see that paper, and why did the man on the cover seem so familiar?He then remembered that his mother had a collection of old newspapers from her parents, so he went looking for them.
As he opened the old box labeled "1927" a cloud of dusk billowed out of it, momentarily blinding him, and making him cough. When he was ready to continue, he searched for the paper dated "August 24, 1927" and the headline read "At the Theaters" and on the cover was a picture of an old movie theater, and standing with the owner was an all too familiar looking man, one who looked almost identical to Julius.
The shock of this didn't compare to the one he received when, as he was turning around to go find Julius, that Julius himself was sitting in an old armchair on the other side of the room. "What do you have there, Malachai?" He asked. Malachai replied, "Something's been bothering me ever since I met you, and it didn't dawn on me until last night. My mother's parents collected most of the local newspapers for years, and this is one of them.
The image on this paper from 1927 is in front of the old movie theater, and standing with the owner is a man who looks a lot like you ,Julius. Can you explain this, considering how you are, and where you came from?" Julius sighed, and sat in silence for a couple minutes, before saying, "This may be hard to believe, but that is me in that picture. I don't how to say this, so I mine as well just tell it to you straight; I'm a vampire."
" V** ampire**? I always thought they existed, but in the way children think Santa does....just in myths and legends. How old are you, really?" Julius then said, "Quite old, actually. My father was one of the lesser known pharaohs, outside Cairo. I don't know who my mother is, just what species she was." Malachai sat contemplating this for a while, before asking, "When did you become, you know, a Vampire? What was it like, was it painful?"
Julius thought about this for a second, and then answered, "I was turned on my thirtieth birthday, by the man I least expected, my father's advisor. It was painful at first, but it went away after a while. When my father had learned about his treachery, he had him beheaded. Before he could do the same to me, I fled to the coast, headed to Europe and wandered there for a century or two."
Malachai then said, to Julius' great surprise, "Am I old enough to be a Vampire?" Julius replied, "Twenty-five is the youngest we go, so yes, you are. But are you sure about this, that you want to throw away your life to be with me? There's a whole world mortals don't notice, full of bloodshed and deceit." Malachai didn't hesitate in his reply, "Hell yes, I have no relatives, friends and until I met you no love life. You came out of nowhere and stole my heart, and with you is where I want it to stay, for all eternity. Please, will you do me the honor of making me a vampire?"
There was a moment's hesitation, and then Julius replied, "I would love to. First things first though, some things need to be prepared beforehand. I must go and make arrangements, the first of which is to get a ring made for you. Before you ask, I'll explain about the ring, and more, after I turn you. I love you, and I shall see you tonight, at The Hangout." Malachai said, slightly disappointed, "If it's necessary, then I'll wait. I love you too, see you tonight." When they had kissed, Julius departed.
Guess that's for the best, Malachai thought, considering I've got something to do before I leave this life behind. While he was getting ready, he thought about how he was going to say it, without too many questions being asked. As he reached for his keys, he noticed a note under them. The note read, "One thing I almost forgot. For reasons I'll explain later, you shall be moving in to my house tomorrow, so tell your boss that you're quitting because you're leaving town. Love you, Julius" That solves that problem.
As he pulled into the employee parking lot, in his usual spot, something hit him. Just a day ago I met him right out here, he thought, I never would have imagined then that I would be becoming a vampire , of all things. He then walked in, heading the managers office, hoping he would take this well.
"Where were you last night, we had to pick up the slack this morning." The manager scolded. Malachai answered, "That's not very important right now. Some things came up, and I'm going to be moving out of town, so I came to tell you I quit." Silence, then, "I guess it can't be helped, so just hand in the keys, and don't let me see you here again." That went well...
Having some time to kill, Malachai decided to head to one of his favorite cafés in town. As he sat and ate, he wondered what exciting changes were about to happen to his life. Could he even call it that, considering he technically was going to die? Isn't it strange, how I can calmly think that? My life may be going nowhere fast, but shouldn't I be more worried? He thought. Guess there's not much point in worrying at this point.
When he was finished, he paid, leaving a tip, and headed back home to get ready. What does someone where when going to their death anyway? He contemplated. I guess I'll go with something a little formal, just to make a good impression. Once he was as ready as he could be, he headed down to The Hangout. He waited in the parking lot for a moment, gathering himself, since he was probably going to be facing a large crowd.
As he headed inside, he was once again stopped by the hulkish Yap, who said, "Evening Malachai. I heard the good news, though I'm surprised that you're so willing. Do you love Julius that much?" Malachai smiled at this, and replied, "Evening Yap, and yeah, I do love him that much, probably more. I never loved anyone so much, not even my mother. Well, see you later, hope you don't have too much trouble tonight." Yap laughed, "Thanks, but I don't think I need to worry; the rumors about this place scare away all the trouble makers in the area, and those foolish enough to try won't remember." He said this last part with a sly grin, and moved aside so Malachai could enter.
Malachai was shocked when he first stepped into the club. The whole dance floor around the bar was full of people, and all the tables surrounding them were jam packed. The area around the bar itself was the only place that was clear, some rule in effect he didn't know about. As he made his way through the crowd towards it, he noticed Julius and Vladimir on the opposite side, in a heated conversation. When Julius noticed him, he motioned for him to head over.
"Evening babe, Evening Vlad. Is this how crowded the place usually is?" Malachai asked. Vladimir smiled, and said, "Yeah, this is the usual crowd; they were just...busy, last night. Anyway, I was shocked but happy to hear that you're going to be joining our ranks tonight." Malachai smiled at this, and replied, "Thanks, I knew once I found out he was a vampire that I wanted to be one." Vladimir then said, "I know I don't need to bore you with reasons not to give up your life, since you obviously won't be swayed. But I have one thing to ask you. Do you love Julius enough to stay with him for eternity? I don't want to see him get hurt again."
Malachai laughed at this, surprising the other two, "Of course I love him enough, and I never want to hurt him in any way. Don't worry about him, he's in good hands. As long as I'm around, nothing will hurt him." Julius suddenly leaned over and gave Malachai a long, tender kiss, and after said, "You took the words out of my mouth. I won't let anything hurt you either, and as long as we look out for each other, nothing will get between us. Now, why don't we go into one of the private rooms in the back and get started?"
The 'private room' Julius led Malachai to looked more like the bedroom of a mansion than a room in the back of a club. When he mentioned this, Julius laughed, and said, "This room is the only one of its kind here, it's mainly used by me and Vlad, more so him lately than me. You ready for this, or want me to give you a minute?" Malachai didn't hesitate to answer, "I've been ready since I walked in the club. I'm obviously new to this, so you lead, and I'll follow."
After they were done, Julius said, "I need to explain the process to you, and then I'm going to put you to sleep so you don't experience the pain I did. Don't try to change my mind, because it won't work; you don't need to go through that." After a pause, he continued, "First, I drain your blood, thus killing you, and then replace it with my own. You should turn over night, and wake up tomorrow night turned. Do you want a moment, or should I put you right to sleep?" Malachai didn't answer, just kissed him long and hard. Afterward he acknowledged he was ready with the nod of his head. Julius turned his head so that he was looking into the deep dark of his eyes, until he got lost in them, losing consciousness.