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An Unwanted Gift

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Cold. Afraid. Alone.

The coroners had done a good job of cleaning up the mess that was once Niro. A young man local to the town of Zeroma, he wasn't exactly a local celebrity, but his untimely death would come as a massive shock to all who knew him, none more so than his parents.

He had been living with two friends while he attended the local University, merely out of convenience more than anything else. His housemates had returned from a trip to the movies, which Niro had declined as he wanted some alone time, to find their canine housemate lying dead on the living room floor, with his neck ripped open and soaked in a massive amount of blood, that couldn't possibly all have come from him.

The Doctors at the Zeroma General Hospital had delivered a verdict of 'Death caused by Feral Attack', judging by the wounds inflicted on the poor husky. They had even asked his housemates to call and deliver the heartbreaking news to his parents that their only son had chosen to stay at home alone, and had wound up being savagely killed by some large Feral.

Ferals were usually docile, keeping themselves to themselves, the lower formed denizens of the planet. Born without the higher brain function possessed by the world's primary inhabitants, they were merely the same as the animals that walked its surface, living peacefully away from their more intellectual Anthro counterparts. However, when provoked, they could, and usually would attack fiercely, merely in an effort to defend themselves.

Naturally, his parents didn't believe the news at first. At least, not until they were presented with the sight of their now deceased son, with a chunk still missing from his neck. His mother screamed and wailed, while in contrast, his father fell to his knees and wept in silence.

The police report had been filed, the autopsy skipped, as the cause of death appeared obvious to the coroners. Niro's friends and parents had returned to their homes to try and rest, drained from their emotional ordeal. His body had been covered, and stored away for the night, awaiting transfer to the funeral parlour in the next few days.

A full day passed, with night falling once again. The coroners had gone home, leaving the morgue empty. However, inside one of the cadaver freezers, someone stirred.

Niros eyes snapped open, and he inhaled sharply. He tried to move, but he found himself confined. His initial thought was that he had been buried alive. He tried to call out, but he couldn't form the words. He tried to cry, but the tears wouldn't come.

Ceasing his seemingly futile struggle, Niro fell still. He simply lay there, attempting to recall what had happened, what chain of events had been set in motion, to finally cumulate in him being locked inside a very dark, cold, claustrophobic space. He tried to remember, the veins on his temple throbbing as he tried to focus, but he couldn't think. His mind was more occupied on the sudden hunger that stirred in his belly, thoughts of meat and flesh racing through his mind, clouding out his memories.

He remained in a motionless state for a few minutes, until his ears pricked up, surprising him. Even through the thick steel of the freezer, he could hear a sound, clear as day. Footsteps. Drawing closer and closer to where he lay.

A jingling of keys followed the footsteps, and metal clicking, tumblers moving. A drawer being unlocked.

Without any more noise, the drawer where Niro lay was pulled open; bring the unsuspecting Husky out into the dimly light room. The light still being bright enough to cause him to shield his eyes, suddenly more sensitive to the light, probably from being locked inside the drawer for over twenty four hours.

After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted, and Niro lowered his paw, to find himself staring into the grey tinged eyes of an older gentleman, early fifties by the look of him. He was a brown wolf, his head fur greying somewhat to reflect his age. His eyes, Niro noticed, made him look so much older. These were the eyes of someone who had lived for millennia.

"Glad to see that you are finally awake kiddo" The wolf spoke in a soft, fatherly tone. His accent gave Niro the distinct impression that this wolf came from one of the southern states on the Armelian continent.

Niro tried to move, his strength returning to him somewhat. However, he was still very weak, and only managed to cause himself to topple off of the gurney he had been lying on, landing in a heap on the cold, tiled floor.

In the blink of an eye, the wolf was suddenly crouching next to the startled husky, still bearing the same caring gaze he had greeted Niro with.

"Easy there, you just woke up, so you are gonna be feeling a little wobbly for a while. Here, lemme help ya back up."

The wolf put an arm around Niros neck, and went to put another under his legs, to cradle him, but Niro suddenly recoiled, his paws moving to cover his exposed genitals, having realised when he landed on the floor, that he was completely naked. However, for some reason, he was unable to feel the cold of the floor he was lying on, as to any normal fur, they would have shuddered at the feel of it beneath their footpaws.

"It's ok, It's ok, you don't have anything I haven't seen before, and I understand. You've woken up in a strange place, you're as naked as the day you were born, and some stranger is trying to pick you up in his arms." The wolf let out a little chuckle.

"Don't worry, I promise I'm not gonna hurt you. Just lemme help, and I'll explain to you how you wound up in this place".

Being without any other options, Niro agreed, giving a slow nod of his head.

Niro figured he was lighter than he realised, as the wolf had picked him up and sat him down upright on the gurney in one smooth motion. Niro continued to cover his crotch with his paws, and now swished his tail into his lap for extra coverage.

"Now then, before I tell you what you need to hear, let's get some clothes on you". The wolf said, reached into the pocket of the brown leather jacket he was wearing, and pulling out a pair of scrunched up medical scrubs.

"Swiped em when they weren't lookin!" He said, seeming proud of himself. "They ain't much, but at least you can cover your modesty."

Giving it a moment's thought, Niro relaxed and nodded, allowing the older wolf to dress him. For some reason, Niro felt like he could trust this fur, but he couldn't quite tell why.

After he was dressed, the wolf smiled.

"I'm Ezekiel by the way". He said.

"...niro". Niro croaked, coughing a little. The first word he had said since waking up in this place.

"A pleasure Niro!" Ezekiel said, patting the husky gently on the shoulder, before sitting down next to him on the gurney.

"Now...it's time for me to tell you how you got here, and why you are probably pretty damn hungry."

He put his arm around Niros shoulders, the way a father would do so to his son, looked him in the eyes, and began.

---

The Previous Night....

Niro relaxed back into the sofa, finally getting some peace and quiet. With his housemates out for the next few hours, Niro had decided to take a little time to himself, some time to relax in the quiet of his home with one of his favourite books.

Curled up on the sofa, contently reading away, Niro didn't notice as something moved swiftly past the living room window. Soon enough however, he would find out.

It took the husky a good few minutes to notice it. The noise. A dull, quiet ticking. Like a clock that had gotten stuck, it's battery dying, ticking in place before it's power source died, and the second counter fell still, until the battery was replaced. Niro wasn't quite sure what was making the sound, all he could tell, was that it was the coming from the nearby window.

As Niro sat and listened, he tried to imagine the cause of the noise. Something tapping against glass was the most likely cause, a key, or perhaps a claw. Niro assumed it must be one of his housemates may have forgotten something, and come home to retrieve it.

Niro bookmarked his page and placed his book down on the adjacent sofa cushion, getting up from his seat. He stood up and walked to the window, peering out, but finding no one there. As he turned around to turn back to his seat, the ticking got louder.

Niros ears perked up, as they zoned in on the sound. It was now coming from the kitchen. Someone was tapping on the screen door leading to the backyard. Niro immediately strode into the kitchen, thinking he would greet one of his housemates wanting to be let in. How wrong he would be.

Once in the kitchen, Niro flicked the wall switch to turn on the overhead light, to show who was at the door. As the light flickered into life, Niro almost jumped out of his skin.

Perched on one of the stools by the kitchen counter was not one of his housemates, but a stranger. The screen door leading outside was wide open, the lock lying in the grass of the garden, in several pieces. The ticking must of been the lock being picked. This stranger had clearly broken in, but how he had managed to move into the kitchen and sit down in under a second was not clear to Niro, at least, not yet.

The fur sat at the counter was a very unkempt looking otter. His head fur was greasy and flat, his clothes had tears in them, many of them across his chest. This man looked like he had been in a few scrapes. However, his eyes were his most distinguishing feature. A vibrant blue, almost as if they were glowing.

"Who are you, and what the hell do you think you are doing?" Niro practically shouted.

The strange otter merely laughed. A loud, throaty laugh. He looked so young, but his eyes betrayed his youthful appearance.

"What am I doing?" The otter said, locking his vibrant blue eyes with Niros duller, dark blue ones. "I'll tell you what I'm doing!"

The otter rose to his feet, and smiled. A great, big, toothy smile, and winked.

Before Niro could utter another word, the otter was upon him, pinning him to the kitchen wall in a speed not thought possible.

"I am here..." The otter began, "... for my dinner!"

The intruder opened his mouth, and Niros eyes widened. With a tiny motion of his upper lip, the otters canines had doubled in length, and even looked twice as sharp.

"Forget what the movies and your books told you husky..." the otter began, in an almost sing song voice. He was clearly mad. "Certain things in this world, things that people think are just stories, they are real, and Vampires... are one of those things." The otter said with an almost menacing amount of glee in his voice.

"Sadly, you won't be able to tell people of your encounter with me."

Niro knew what was coming. He tried to move, tried to struggle, but his attacker was easily holding him in place. The otter grabbed Niros head, twisting it painfully so that the husky faced away from him, and lunged in, fangs bared.

With a stomach turning crunch, Niro felt the skin of his neck being pierced, his shoulder becoming warmed from the blood that had begun to pump out of him, and into the greedy muzzle of his soon to be killer, who gulped it down ravenously.

Niro however, had no intention of going down without a fight. A surge of adrenaline rushed through him, giving him the strength to break his arm free. With an almighty scream, Niro slammed his fist into the otters head, who immediately released his biting hold on his prey, screaming himself.

"SILVER!" He screeched, a portion of his flesh of his face now visibly smoking and charred.

Around Niros wrist, was his silver pentagram necklace. Normally, he would wear it as it was supposed to be worn, around his neck, but today, he had decided to try out a new style, and fashion it into a bracelet. When he had punched the Vampire Otter, the pendant had stuck to his face, burning into his flesh, demonstrating the natural severe allergy to silver that all Vampires possess. The Ancient Symbol of protection, although merely worn as a decoration by the Husky, had seemingly served its mythical purpose.

Unfortunately, Niro was not given another chance to utilise his new found weapon. The flesh of his attackers face, a few seconds ago being burned and melted, had healed completely, leaving no trace.

The now enraged Vampire roared, punching his bleeding prey in the stomach, not only winding him, but sending him flying backwards, out through the kitchen door and into the living room, crashing into the wooden coffee table and breaking it beneath him.

Another roar bellowed from the Vampire, followed by maniacal laughter.

"I love it when my food tried to fight back! But playtime is OVER!!!"

Blood was still pouring out of Niros neck, where he had been savagely bitten, and the adrenaline rush was only speeding the bleed. A chunk of his neck had been bitten clean off, and the blood was oozing out, and Niros was rapidly feeling light headed.

A final roar from his attacker.

"Now little husky. YOU DIE".

The Vampire lunged, for the final time. Going in for the kill.

Niro however, was ready.

Using the last shreds of his strength, Niro grabbed the closest thing to hand. A leg from the now broken coffee table, one end sharp enough to pierce flesh. And it was this end, that was pointed towards the Vampire.

The otter could not stop himself in time. In his bloodlust, he hadn't spotted the makeshift stake until it was too late. His own momentum pushed him down onto it, the sharp splintered wood piercing the chest, breaking through the otters rib cage, and finding its target, burying itself into his unbeating heart.

The otter froze. His face contorted. He tried to scream, but no sound came.

In a matter of seconds, the Vampire crumpled on top of his victim, his skin, bones and organs all liquefying in an instant, covering the already blood-soaked husky in a torrent of slime and sanguine goop.

His attacker had met the True Death, and would never hurt anyone again.

Niro coughed and spluttered, still wounded. The last of his blood flowing away, his heart and breathing almost ceasing, his life close to its end.

His neck was burning, a sensation that he could feel spreading through his body. The only thing he could currently feel.

With a final cough and a shudder that passed through his entire body, Niros eyes rolled into his skull, and he fell still.

This Husky's life, his life as a mortal, had ended.

---

Niro merely blinked, speechless. As the old fur recounted the tale, it felt like a distant memory flooding back to him, and with the return of his memories, came a horrifying realisation.

"I was bitten by a Vampire..." Niro croaked. "Yet I am alive. That can only mean..."

"I'm afraid so." Ezekiel began, "Just like the one who attacked you, and like me... you have become Vampire."

Niro could not say a word.

"Now that you know what happened to you, and what you now are, I should probably explain the basics of a few Vampire attributes".

Niro nodded, still unable to speak.

"When you were bitten, you were 'infected' shall we say, with Vampirism. This can easily be countered, all the victim has to do is ingest just one drop of blood from the Vampire, and it cancels out the change. It's how we feed without turning everyone we bite into Vampers."

"Now normally, a new Vampire is the responsibility of their Maker, the Vampire that turned them. They have a sort of bond with that Vampire, the Maker can always know where their 'Progeny' is, and can summon them too. Plus they can command their progenies, just by saying 'As your Maker, I command you', and then the new Vamp with do whatever they are told, within reason. "

"However, you killed your Maker. Which now means you are my responsibility, as I'm your Vampire 'next of kin' as it were."

"Next of kin?" Niro questioned.

"Well Niro... your Maker, the Vampire you killed, was my progeny. Which makes me your Vampire Grandfather." Ezekiel said this with a slight chuckle.

"Only problem is, my progeny, your Maker, well, he was a rouge Vampire. He did something bad enough to piss off the Vampire Council, and they ordered his execution, but he managed to escape custody. And it seems you took care of their job for 'em!"

"S...So glad I could help." Niro struggled to say, yet the sarcasm almost dripped from his words.

"No need to get smart." Ezekiel scolded. "Obviously, as Maxwell... I never did tell you his name, turned you by accident before you gave him the True Death, the council had to decide what would become of you. Thankfully, they are a reasonable enough bunch, as long as you stay on their good side. They agreed to let me, your Grandfather, take care of you, and you will be integrated into the Vampire Coven of Apollo City, while also inheriting your Makers responsibilities, at least, the ones he had before he went Rouge."

This was, understandably, a lot of information for Niro to take in.

"Maker...Council... Coven... Apollo City..." Niro slowly babbled.

Ezekiel pulled Niro in close, and hugged him tight.

"You poor kid. I promise I'm gonna take good care of you. So just stay by my side, and you'll be fine. Now c'mon, I have a car waitin for us, we need to get into it before the sun comes up, or we'll both end up getting deep fried by the sun!"

Before Niro could even respond, his Vampire Grandfather had lifted him up, and raced out of the hospital morgue, getting out into the parking lot in just a few seconds, where a black SUV awaited them, back doors open for its overnight passengers.

Ezekiel jumped into the lightproof truck, slamming the doors behind him and signalling the driver to head out.

Niros head was spinning. He hoped that this was all just a really intense dream, and that he would wake up in his own bed, and continue on with his mortal life as normal when he awoke. But he knew that it wasn't going to happen.

Cuddling Niro under his arm, Ezekiel began to speak.

"I'll teach you the ropes kiddo, and I'm... I'm so sorry that all of this had to happen to you. If I had known what my progeny was gonna do, I'd have staked him myself, and saved you from all of this." He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Consider this like a fresh start. You've been given the gift of immortality, though you may not have wanted it. When we get back to HQ, I'll show you everything you need to know about your new powers, teach you how to glamour, hell, I'll even teach you what to say to get some nice dudes into your bed!"

Ezekiel laughed at Niros look of surprise. The only people he had told about his sexuality was his parents.

"The council did some research on you, what with you being the newest member of the coven and all that. So sorry if that was a little forward."

Niro didn't respond. His eyes were fixated on the skyline of Zeroma, the city he had called his home for the past nineteen years, as it rapidly disappeared into the distance. Niro was thinking about the life he had left behind, or rather, the life that had been robbed from him.

It would take him some time to adjust to this new way of living.

"Well kiddo, best we get some shut eye. This van is light-tight, so we won't get burned".

Niro simply looked up at his Vampire Grandfather, and nodded in understanding.

"When we get there tomorrow night, well, I'm sure we could both do with a drink."

Niros belly immediately growled in response. He was so hungry, he felt like he hadn't eaten in days.

Vampires could eat normal food, but there was one thing that the Husky would have to get to get used to drinking. Something which he now could not help but hunger for, the same thing his Maker had tried to kill him for.

Blood.

Niro will return in Chronicles of Blood Episode 2 - The Streets of Apollo

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