• Tobias’s POV

    Dietrich steps up behind you on the roof. “Searching for your dinner, are we? Any luck?” He muses in Latin. You’ve only began to learn it and miss a bit of this little speech, but you get the gist of it. “What’s it to you?” You seethe back in the dead language. He laughs, switching to French. “Ah, nothing much. Just curious to how my little one is going about his day-”

    “Night.” You correct, mimicking his language still. He’s getting on your nerves. You’ve only been with him for what-about two months? And he expects you to know every language under the sun…well, the moon. “Still using that human sense of time? It will be an inconvenience in the future, believe me.” He replies happily in Welsh, popping his neck. Growling, you jump across the road, landing on the building on the other side. That was about a thirty foot gap…you’re getting better. “Enough with all the languages!” You shout angrily in your own language. “I’m sick of you! Leave me alone!” His dark silhouette remains still as you drop into the alley and race away. You hold your breath in the bumbling crowds of humans in the streets. Don’t they understand nighttime is dangerous? Monsters run amok…monsters like yourself. Gritting your teeth, you weave in and out of people, eventually reaching the outskirts and soon the countryside. The fresh air is a godsend and you breathe in deeply. Spotting an apple tree, you smile and jog over, jumping the ten foot gap between you and the ripe fruit above your head. Your hand easily grasps the red sphere and landing without a sound, you curl up against the trunk, playing with the apple. You haven’t eaten one in forever it seems. Bringing the crisp fruit to your mouth, you bite into it, expecting the sweet juices to run down your throat, but you instantly begin to gag and throw the fruit back up. It tasted horrible! Like rotting flesh mixed with putrid wine and everything else that no sensible person would get within a mile of. “Ugh…” You throw the fruit away, anguished. “I thought you knew vampires didn’t eat human food.” Dietrich mumbles in the branches above. The bile escalates in your throat again. “I thought it was a personal choice, not a forced one.” You spit at him. He waves his hand, the cloak flapping about his frame. “Ah, but you should have realized it nonetheless. Come, I will help you hunt…again.” He drops to the ground next to you. “I don’t want to.” You scowl, turning away. The vampire purses his lips, aggravated. “Tobias….you have to. Remember the first month?” Pain and horror fill your mind as you remember all the grotesque acts you committed in a bloodlust frenzy. Dietrich turns soft, lifting you cautiously by the arm. “I want you to succeed. That’s why I’m taking the time to teach you these things, so that you know and understand what to do.” Silent, you follow him back to the town. “Let your instincts guide you.” He assures, pushing you lightly forward. You lick your lips and glance around at the flurry of people. Old people, young people, children, animals…all for the taking. You hate it, but once you get a hold of your victim, you just can’t let go. “There.” Dietrich points to a middle aged man stepping into an alley. You slink up behind him and grip his chest while covering his mouth. The man thrashes in your grip as Dietrich watches on, viewing your progress. You press the frightened person against the wall and bite fiercely into his throat. Blood seeps from the wound and coats your parched mouth. Groaning, you close your eyes in ecstasy. The blood isn’t sweet, yet not too bitter-it’s a bold taste, one befitting a human of his age. It’s the perfect cure for the rotten taste left from that apple. You can feel his heart beating wildly but it begins to slow. You listen as you pull in all the blood you can. ba-dump…ba-dump……ba-dump……………..ba-dump………….nothing. It stops yet you continue to drain his body. “Tobias-no!” Hands rip you apart from the body and you fight and claw at Dietrich. “Let me go! More-! I want more!” He pulls you away. “You cannot drink from a body that has died!” He says angrily, but there is a sense of worry to it. You calm down once he takes you away and your stomach begins to cramp. Doubling over, you groan and drop to your knees. “That is why.” He says quietly. “Blood from a corpse is like poison. We need LIVING blood to LIVE. Dead blood does nothing but to make us even more dead than we already are. Listen to me!” He shouts this last part due to your lack of listening. Getting in your face, Dietrich points his finger in-between your eyes. “Never ever take blood from a corpse. Do you understand me, Tobias?” You nod feebly. His face goes from a look of anger to a fatherly complexion. You moan again, curling up onto yourself. The pain in your stomach is unbearable. “Here. I shouldn’t do this, but you took too much…” Glancing up, Dietrich’s wrist lays in front of your face, slit, the blood dripping to the ground. Once it touches the dirt it hisses and fizzles away into nothing. “Take it. It’ll help.” He says, urging the blood to you. Reaching out, you take the vampire’s arm and carefully fit your mouth around the cut. His blood is ice cold and has a sour taste, but the pain in your belly soon subsides. “Better?” He asks as you slowly pull away, his wound having healed on you. “Yes…” He smiles, his bright teeth gleaming in the moonlight. “Good. Let’s say we retire to the mansion. I believe this little incident is enough for your lesson tonight.”