Birth of a Death Drinker

My Birth as a Death Drinker
by Garrick A. Moritz

My name is Garrick. In the ancient Celtic tongue it means powerful god, mighty warrior, or the spear ruler. And that is what I am. A powerful god of war. An immortal who hunts not only men, but other immortals as well.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let us start at the beginning. Before I became what I am. A vampire. A death drinker.

My parents died in a car crash when I was 15. I lived with my uncle until I was old enough to go out on my own. The drunk driver who was their killer, has now paid for his crime. The mortal government, to whom I used to pledge my allegiance, sent him to prison on two counts of manslaughter. Deep inside, I was never satisfied by this punishment. This is perhaps how she knew that I could be what I am. I have never been satisfied with my life.

I always dreamed of war, of battle. It's an obsession, really. I've read book after book on war, and its place in history. The victories and defeats of the greatest generals in history.

World War Two is a favorite of mine. My grandfather was an infantry captain. His helmet and .45 pistol are my most treasured possessions, even now.

I enjoy nothing more than the sight of blood, real blood. Even in my mortal life I loved it. Hunting with my friends, nothing satisfied me more than to watch the shower of blood erupt from my prey as my weapon brought it death faster than sound. Sometimes after the hunt I would secretly lick my fingers to taste the living fluid of the creature whose life I had taken. I felt like God or perhaps the Devil. A lord of life and death.

Taking my A.C.T.'s after high school and sending the results around, I was offered a scholarship at a big name private university. Located in rural, yet urban Sioux Falls, SD, a four hour drive from my home in the most rural parts of the same state. My scholarship wasn't large, but with the money from my fathers life insurance I could easily afford a bachelor’s degree. With a college education I could enroll in the officer training program and someday become a general.

I had never been active in sports, although my build would have made me a good football player. I considered sports beneath me. I had nothing to prove. Academics drew me. I learned early on that knowledge is power. Above all things, power is what I have always desired.

Words have always been important. Some of my favorite works are Shakespeare's MacBeth and Richard the Third. I felt close to those characters.

Learning did wonderful things for me. It gave me the power to see things about the world in which I lived, and the reasons behind them. The college gave me that, as well as one sport I found I enjoyed. Karate.

Ancient arts of fighting from the far east. Knowledge to kill with a single swipe of the hand or foot. It became my religion. By the end of my senior year I was ready to test for my black belt. So, in two weeks I was scheduled to graduate with a degree in English literature and history as well as a black belt in Akee-do Karate.

I had seen her many times. Even as a mortal I was keen observer. I'd watch her in dark corners. I'd watch her watch me.

Midnight hair coming down in vines to her shoulders, piercing green eyes like a coyote. A predator, like me. She dressed in black. Black leather jacket draping over a form fitting bodice to a too short skirt. Round, with wonderful curves. I desired her then, with a mortal's lust, wanting to undo that bodice with a mad passion. But if ever I asked who she was, none of my companions would have claimed to have seen her.

But I saw her everywhere. Bars, college fraternity parities, late night exam crams at the library. When the sun went down, I knew she would be near. Watching me.

It was the night before my testing. I had been out with friends, but turned in early, knowing I'd need my strength and my wits for tomorrow's challenges. I lived alone in this small dormitory, my roommate transferring schools early in the year.

For some reason I felt warm, so I opened my window. Stripping down to my boxer shorts I lay down on the small bunk that was my bed and drifted away into the pleasant solitude that is sleep.

I had dreamed of her many times. The intimate mortal dreams full of lace, leather and lovemaking. Winding her arms and legs around mine in passion. But this was no dream.

I awoke suddenly. My mortal body reacting to the danger it felt I was in. My hands and feet were bound to my bunk with thick cord. There she was, laying astride me, naked. I watched as she tore aside the cotton fabric that was my undergarment with her teeth and hands, effortlessly shredding it. I tried to cry out, but she silenced me with her lips. Kissing, I felt her tongue slide into my mouth with such strength, I thought she could have broken my teeth with it. I kissed back.

Our eyes met. She seemed as enamored with me as I did with her. Seeing her this close for the first time, I guessed her age to be mid thirties, although her eyes seemed much older.

"How did you get in here?" I asked, both pleased and surprised.

"That's not important," she replied. Her voice was like a Bach symphony. She began to kiss me again, staring with my chin and working her way down.

"Well, I'm just glad you are here," I said. "I've been waiting for you for so long."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I've been frightened of you. But now, I'm not. Now you'll be mine. All mine. Forever."

"Frightened, why should you be..." My words stopped as I entered her. Our sex was the fierce kind, rough and filled with passion. For some reason, I felt she was only doing it to please me, that she gained only a little pleasure from it, not the joyful satisfaction I felt as I climaxed.

At that moment she planted her lips on my neck and kissed me. Such a deep kiss. So warm and loving. I felt my heart beat with hers. I felt drawn up into her. I wanted nothing else than to be one with her.

Suddenly she wretched herself away.

"Simone," I said protesting, now knowing her name.

"No. No. Not yet my love. Oh, you tempt me so, but I cannot. Not yet. Soon. Soon. There is one more test I must perform before I know you will be ready for what I will give you."

Without a word she took nail of her right hand forefinger, and pierced her left wrist. She allowed a single drop of blood to fall onto my lips. The blood tasted cleaner than the purest water, and as elegant as the finest wine. I wanted more. I was wild for it, but she hid the cut away, rose and began to dress. I was too shocked for words.

"Tomorrow, after your test, I will come to see you again. Leave the window open and trust me. If you come with me, I will give you everything you desire, forever."

She was gone. I had not even seen her move. The cords binding my wrist and ankles were gone as well. I stood, unbelieving and swooned. My head rushed. I stumbled and went down.

When I got up again, I moved slowly with a ravenous thirst. Moving to my small refrigerator I took up a gallon of 2% and drained it. Finding my bathrobe I opened the door to the hallway to find the water fountain. I drank like an exhausted buffalo. When my guts were bursting with fluids I dragged myself under the covers. I could still smell Simone's perfume. I fell back into slumber, dreaming of her.

The next day I awoke as the sun was rising. I got up to watch it. It was as if I had never seen a sunrise quite like it. The colors were fresh and new, the smells through the window were sweet and inviting. Everything had a crispness and freshness I'd never felt before. I could hear the birds chirp and the soft footfalls of the ants.

Ants, yes, that's what it was. I looked down from my window, to the ground below and there they were, a tiny colony taking food home to their mistress. I could hear them. I could hear a girl upstairs showering and singing along with the radio as clearly as if she was in the room. My senses seemed to have sharpened and expanded.

I wanted to go outside, where I belonged. I put on my running shorts and a T-Shirt and charged down the steps, and through the double doors into the outside world. The sun felt oppressive. The grass of the campus green touched my bare feet, for I had forgotten my shoes. I ran like the wind on the sea. I don't remember how far I ran, but when I had finished I was on the north side of town, in Falls Park, set along the Big Sioux river. The waterfall seemed louder than ever. I breathed in the rich aroma of the morning air. I felt alive for the first time in my life. This, I concluded, must be what being in love feels like.

I ran back to campus, passing other early morning joggers and cyclists.

"You turtles," I said to no one in particular. "You can't keep up with me."

Going to my classes that day, they had never been so interesting. I could smell what the professors had for breakfast that morning. I could tell who'd been out drinking last night. Sometimes, I even thought I could hear what they were thinking.

My friend Ray approached me at lunch. He was a junior and was in Karate with me. He approached me with what seemed like genuine concern mixed with happiness.

"Hey G-man, what's with you today? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Why do you ask?"

"You've been grinning like an idiot all day. What's got you so wired?"

I decided to tell him. After all, what could it hurt. But I would only tell him the parts he needed to know.

"You remember that mystery girl I asked you about?"

"Yeah."

"She snuck into my room last night."

"No shit! Damn. Who is she? Where she from? Does she go to school here?"

"Her name is Simone, and the rest I don't know. We didn't do a whole lot of talking."

"Damn dude, what is it with chicks always digging on you? Are you sure Kevin didn't see her? It would suck to get suspended two weeks before you graduate."

Kevin was our hall director, and the school still had the policy of suspension if you were caught after hours with a member of the opposite sex in your room.

"No, he didn't see her. Kevin is dumb as a brick, and you know it. As many six packs we've smuggled under his nose, he wouldn't know how to spot a girl if she sat on his face.”

"Well, all right. But speaking of girls, I'd like to meet yours and find out if she's got any friends she wants to send my way."

The rest of the day went too slowly. Actually saying her name out loud made me think about her that much more. It was torture having to sit through afternoon classes. I was so worked up that I nearly forgot about my Karate test that evening. Ray came to collect me. As the sun went down we crossed the avenue to the large gymnasium, laughing and joking as usual. Up the stairs to the wrestling room where Dr. Brian Larson, our instructor, waited.

A professor of history as well as a 4th degree black belt, I enjoyed sparring and conversing with him. A brilliant man and an exceptional fighter.

Usually we found him sparring with one of the other black belts before class. This time was no exception. My heart stopped when I saw who it was.

Locked in heated combat with my instructor was the woman I loved. Dr. Larson was fighting more fiercely than I had ever seen, while Simone seemed cool and calm. She wore an all black gee, with the chinese character for courage outlined in red on the back of the uniform.

Back and forth they flew at each other. Kicking, punching and blocking. Everyone around me was spellbound by her, that she could keep up with with the instructor we twelve called Dr. Death.

And then his foot stuck home. An airborne round kick bludgeoned her jaw. She crumpled like a spider. Everyone in the class shuddered, except me. I knew it was a trick. I knew it wasn't real.

Dr. Larson knelt beside her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, fearing he'd caused permanent damage.

"Yes, I'm ok," she replied in that musical voice. She sat up and grinned. "That was one hell of a kick. Any harder and you'd have taken my head off."

"Well in a couple of years, I won't be as strong and you'll beat me hands down," he said. "That was some match."

Dr. Larson helped Simone to her feet. And, arm in arm, they walked straight over to me.

"So this is your lady friend, Garrick," he said. "As usual my boy you've gotten yourself into a lot of trouble. This woman is a tigress. I haven't had a fight like that in years. If I had a dozen students like her, I'd die of exhaustion."

I grinned, not really understanding what was going on.

"Why don't you find a chair for me and Dr. Larson, darling," she said. "After all, I came here to watch you test."

I obeyed, unquestioningly.

"Well, speaking of that, it's time. Line up."

We lined up. Dr. Larson took us through bows and announced that Simone was a 3rd Degree in Akee-do and would be helping him judge tonight.

We briefly warmed up and began our tests. I was last. Everyone tested. Ray had trouble, missing one move on his from and breaking the board on his third and final try. But, he passed for his red belt, getting average marks. Finally it was my turn.

My forms were flawless. The practiced movements were effortless. My board breaks were next. For my black I was to break through four boards, two with each kick. After that, a concrete cinder-block with a knife-hand strike. All three shattered, and I felt no pain. The final trial was the free-sparring.

"All right, Garrick," said Dr. Larson. "This is the last part. I need to see how well you defend yourself in a real situation. I'm going to attack you full force. Defend yourself as best as you can." We bowed and he charged.

I moved on instinct and reflex. I matched his speed effortlessly. He moved faster. High block, low, outside, inside, x-block, grab, throw, thud. Throw!?! Thud?!?

I threw him. I threw Dr. Death. I threw him into the wall. The concrete wall.

I ran to his side. He groaned in pain.

"Sensei?"

"Oh, Damn. What the..."

He was hurt, bad.

"I'm sorry. Sensei."

"I think you dislocated my shoulder. I'm glad it was the left one. Nice move. Ooh, ouch.” Dr. Larson winced as he tried to get up.

"Call an ambulance," I heard Ray say.

"Wait. Let me sign that paper there," he said as he sat up against the wall. Simone brought the paper and pen.

"You got it, kid. I'm certifying you. You're deadly. Always thought you had potential, didn't know how much you'd developed it."

He handed me the paper. Certified, 1st degree black belt. He smiled as the paramedics took him away. Simone held my arm.

"Don't worry, he'll be alright. I'll see to that," she said.

"What are you? What have you done to me?" I demanded.

She giggled like a schoolyard girl.

"You'll understand soon, my love." She kissed me abruptly and followed the paramedics.

We shuffled out of the wrestling room. The other students stared at me with some malice and more than a little fear.

"What the hell, dude!" Ray said as we were walking back to the dorm. "You moved so fast. Larson couldn't keep up. Why did you throw him like that, you could have killed him! If you'd have angled it another inch it would have cracked his skull on the wall. What in hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't. I was just fighting."

"Well, you should have thought. You really hurt him. He won't be able to teach all summer."

"I know. I'm really sorry. Listen, Ray I have to get out of here. I need to leave town."

"What do you mean leave town? We've got finals next week."

"I can't explain it. I need to go. Right now, before she comes back."

My mind recognized danger, and Simone was ringing the bell. So I ran. I ignored Ray's pleas for an explanation, which then seemed to turn into cries for help.

I ran to my car. A Volkswagen bug that my dad was working to restore before he died. I jumped in, gunned it, and ignored any concept of a speed limit. I had driven halfway home, nearly two hours, before I realized I was running on empty.

I pulled off interstate ninety in Kimball, SD and filled up at Do-Wah-Diddy’s a 24 hour greasy diner and truck-stop. I paid at the pump using my Visa. Every second drug on abysmally. I was sweating bullets. Gassed up I floored it and moved on. I was heading home. Not to my Uncle's house, but my real home. Our house by the Missouri River where I spent my childhood canoeing and reeling in salmon. Where I still went every chance I could. I had even taken Ray and the guys up there for a few weekends. It was the only place I thought I could feel safe.

The four hour trip was cut down to three hours and eight minutes. The interstate had switched to state and then county roads, then to a dirt and gravel track that lead to our house.
Parking the car in the two-stall wooden garage, I shut and bolted the door behind me. I grabbed a flashlight from Dad's workbench. I went into the house. I made sure all the doors and windows were locked tight. A glance at my indiglo wristwatch said it was 2:22. a.m.

I rushed down the rickety basement steps around the ping-pong and pool tables to the gun cabinet. I unlocked it and grabbed up the Colt 1911 .45 with shoulder strap and put it on. Fumbling with a box of ammunition, I loaded two clips, placing one in the side pouch and one in the gun's butt. I holstered it. Above the gun cabinet rested my grandpa's helmet. I put it on for good measure. No harm in looking the part. No, no harm at all.

The room warped and twisted. My shirt and jeans were replaced with olive green combat fatigues with Captain stripes. The stars replaced the ceiling beams, a muddy track replaced the concrete floor. The pool table became a drab green jeep with a white star on the front.

And from out of the trees she came. Dressed in an S.S. uniform, the bright red swastika armband the only color on her black uniform. The stars shone in her eyes.

Instinct told me to draw the pistol. She's a Nazi. She's the enemy. Shoot her! Shoot her!!! But I couldn't move.

"Always playing ze soldier, Herr Moritz," she said with her musical voice in a mock German-accented English. "But now ze war is over. It is time for our two nations to unite."

She was so beautiful. I wanted to believe her. I wanted to trust her. I wanted to love her. But I knew this was an illusion. I knew she was trying to break my defenses.

I drew and pulled back the slider on my gun.

"Stop where you are, Simone. I'm not playing your game."

"What are you going to do, shoot me?" For emphasis she upholstered her Luger and dropped it in the mud. "I'm unarmed. Are you really going to shoot an unarmed woman."

She smiled and for the first time I saw her teeth. The cannes were longer than normal, and came to a sharp edge like a serpents teeth. She was less than five feet from me now, and walking closer.

I fired. I emptied the gun on her. I couldn't miss at this range, and years of practice insured six solid hits. The final bullet landed in the center of her skull. As she fell back, the stars winked out, the jeep became the pool table, and the mud solidified to the hard concrete.

She was writhing on the floor, howling like a crazed animal. In the next instant she leaped at me with inhuman speed. With a backhand she knocked the still smoking gun out of my hand, breaking my wrist. With her other hand she gripped my throat and raised me bodily off the ground.

"You're being very difficult, my love," she said venomously. "I gave you my best illusion and you fought me still. I'm sorry it had to come to this, but this is going to be painful for you. Still, I should have expected you'd fight till the last, you being who you are."

With that she buried her face in my neck. I flailed, and kicked and beat her with my one good fist, but the more energy I spent, the tighter she held me. I had never felt such pain in all my life. I was dying.

When she finally stopped, I could feel my heart slowing to a crawl. My vision was fussy. My eyes wanted to close.

"Quickly my love," she said as I slumped against her. "If you want to live you must drink." She tore at the flesh of her neck, and her dark red essence frothed forth. "Quickly, drink. You must. Don't leave me. Please, not now."

I did not hesitate. With the last of my strength my lips touched her broken skin, and I began to suck like a babe on his mother's nipple. Instantly I became stronger. My strength returned and multiplied tenfold, a hundredfold, a thousandfold. I drank deeper, and deeper still until she was screaming in pain. I held her against the stone of the pool table. The felt tore to shreds and the legs snapped beneath us as I pressed her down.

"Stop! Stop!" she pleaded. "Please my love, stop. You'll destroy me. I beg you, if you love me stop!"

Raising her up in my arms, and only after taking one last long swallow, I released her. She slumped to the floor like a broken doll. She groaned loudly.

My body then twisted and jolted. The system shock jeered my bones. For what felt like hours I lay next to Simone, wracked with spasms.

When it was done, I sat up. And saw in the darkness. I saw through the darkness. It was better than night vision, it was dark vision. All my senses had been thus enhanced. Words are insignificant. I saw, heard, felt, tasted and smelt everything. And something else as well. Another sense was active.

"Yes my love, it is what mortals call the sixth sense," said Simone's voice in my skull.

"What have you done to me?" I said aloud.

"I have given you a gift. I have made you like me, so that we can be lovers forever," said her disembodied voice. "Please, help me my love. I fear you have almost destroyed me. I had no idea you would be this powerful. But there is much you must know, and much we must do before the sun comes. I cannot walk, I cannot even move. You must help me. Take me to your car."

I picked up her limp body. Her eyes were glazed. She looked ready for the grave.

"I nearly am," said her mind. "You could leave me outside and the sun would take me. But you can still save me. Get me to your car."

I obeyed. Up the stairs and into the garage, I could already hear the banging coming from the inside of the trunk of the car.

Resting my rag doll love on the short entry stairs I walked over and opened the hatch. I looked in horror at who lay inside.

My friend Ray, bound at the writs and feet with an oil cloth stuffed in his mouth lay in the trunk. With his bound hands he had been trying to pound the tire iron through the metal of the lock. He looked at me with wild fear, and vainly tried to swing the thing at my head. I caught it effortlessly and tossed it to the ground. Seeing that it was useless to fight me, he broke down sobbing.

"Raymond. Ray, buddy, what happened. Who did this to you?"

Knowing his feelings with my sixth sense, I sensed surprise, shock, and then hope. I pulled out his gag.

"G-Man, help me,” he sputtered. “Get me out of this. That girl, she's some kind of witch, she's had you under her power, man. She made you tie me up and throw me in your car. I heard gunshots. Where is she? Is she dead?"

"No, she's not dead. She's almost dead."

"Then let me out and let's finish the bitch off."

"Wait."

"What?"

"Garrick," said her music voice in my mind. "He is our food. I need him to live."

"Why is he here?"

"I intended for him to be your first mortal victim, it is best to cut all ties with them as swiftly as possible."

"Man, don't talk to her. She'll get you back. She'll make you hers again."

"But you drained me so. I am so frail. I can barley speak to you."

"Help me, man! Don't listen to her!"

"I need his blood to restore me."

"Simone, there are cattle nearby. Surely their blood would be enough."

"NO! Animal blood can be used if there is nothing else to feed on, but I am weak and dying. I need human blood to make me live again. I need all of him if I am to survive. The sun will be up soon and you don't have time to find another mortal. I'm too weak to do it myself."

"Stop listing to her! She'll kill us both! You shot her, she can't be very strong. If she's dying we can fight her together, but you have to let me go!"

"Why is he here!"

"You brought him. You tricked him and you tied him up. It's been our plan all along. I've already prepared the basement for us. No light will shine down there. We'll be safe. But I need him. I need him quickly or I will die."

I remembered. It had been our plan. I was to draw Ray off while she consumed Dr. Larson and the rest of the class. Simone had needed to gorge herself so that she would be ready to give me her dark gift. I tied up my poor friend and Simone had gotten in the car with me to drive back to our home. But the plan had gone wrong and I had taken more out of her than she had to give. All that blood now flowed in my veins, and the last victim and witness, needed to be sacrificed to my love, else she would die.

At least, that's the reality Simone's mind presented to me. Even in her weakened state she could paint a great picture. I wasn't buying it, but I could see the truth that was in it. She had manipulated me. Under her control I had tied up Ray, and driven the two of us here. I knew that this was the truth, although my memories didn’t support it. Dr. Larson, the paramedics, and my whole class where all dead and my long frightened drive home, the two hundred miles I traversed fearfully running from her, she must have sat next to me grinning while Ray banged on the trunk. I was angry.

"Why shouldn't I let you die, Simone? Why shouldn't I let the sun take you? I am more powerful now as a newborn than you have ever been in all of your long years."

"That's right, you tell her! Now help me with my wrists."

"I don't know," came Simone's mind voice. It seemed weak and faint. My sixth sense told me she was slowing winking out. "Because you need me. And I need you. You must learn so much now, but that is not as important as having someone who loves you, and I do. I need you. My mighty warrior, I need you. I have no power to compel you any more. You've broken me. I wish I did not have to make you choose the life of your friend over my life, but it must be so. Please, save me. I beg you, save me."

"Dude, come back. Snap out of it!"

"Quiet, Raymond," I said coldly.

I lifted him out of the car and carried him to her.

"What are you doing? NO! G-Man, don't let her kill me. Please!"

"I'm sorry Ray. I really am. But she needs me. Your blood is the only thing that can save her."

"My blood. No! No, stop! Jesus Christ please stop. Oh, good God help me. He's gone off the deep end!"

"I will promise you this my friend. I will give you no illusions about your death. Dr. Larson, and the rest of the class, didn't know they were going to die, but I will not deceive you like that."

"Garrick, you don't have to do this. You can let her die. It's okay that she's messed you up, we can find a way to help you."

"No, Ray. There is no other choice. I'm sorry. But she will have to answer for this, I promise you that."

With that, my new serpent teeth tore at his throat. I pressed the lips of my love against the flowing blood. She began to drink.

I left then. Outside I looked at the sky. I felt I could actually count the stars. I didn't need to look at my watch to know it was close to dawn. I could feel the sun moving. I cried, blood tears running down my face.

She came to me then. Face downcast, and ashamed.

I did not look at her.

"My friend paid for your life. If you betray me or try to deceive me again, I will take his blood back from you. Do you understand?”

"Yes."

"Good. Now tell me, what am I?"

"You are a death drinker. A warrior vampire who feeds on his own kind as easily as I might feed on a human. When you do, you gain all their power and gifts. There hasn't been one like you in over a thousand years."

"All right, that is enough for tonight. After the sun sets again you will tell me everything. Tonight, you will rest in my arms. Come, we must go."

I took her then, into my house. Lifting off the helmet and unbuckling the holster, I placed them to guard the body of my friend. Later, I would lay him to rest.

So Simone and I slept. And she told me all the secrets of the vampire race. She brought me into the world because she knew what I would become. She had many enemies that I struck down. I found the mortal who had killed my parents, out on parole. I made him my servant. Eventually too, I had to destroy Simone. She was too willful to follow me forever. But now, I am the one of the most feared vampires in existence. Many of the old ones are tying to kill me even now. But that, indeed, is another story.