The Awakening

Darius froze. His cold limbs ceased all movement. Senses keen he scanned the forest seeking the origin of the noise. Not a noise really, just a rustle, like a leaf catching fabric. Nothing. The vampire took another step towards the small clearing ahead. The scent of the living assaulted him and amidst his ravenous hunger it threatened to corrupt his judgement. Twice now Darius had taken blood from victims here. This appeared to the growing vampire to be a rest spot of some sort. He could pick up their scent from hundreds of yards away, detected expertly through the acrid smell of smoke from their camp fires. The sweet smell of life that gave Darius strength and vitality. And the taste. The taste of human blood called to him.

His first victim had been completely unaware of the undead predator standing behind him. Darius had awoken on that night with the scent already upon him. Knowing this new strange creature had been near, Darius had crept slowly from his cave and found the man on the path to the east walking slowly leading a pack mule laden with wares and canvas covered sacks. The blood from the mule had been inviting, but the smell of the man called to Darius' soul. Aware the mule posed no threat to him Darius stalked the man to the edge of the clearing. He watched the man hobble the mule, light a fire and retrieve some goods from the sacks. Then he had risen and walked away some yards to urinate. By this time Darius had been drunk with hunger. In a blink the vampire covered the fifty yards between himself and the man. Standing within arms reach Darius had taken a long inhale and drank in the moment, his soul screamed to him and with powerful arms the vampire grabbed the man and sank his long teeth into the slender neck. Blood gushed into his willing mouth, the taste so exquisite he sank to the earth to finish. Then it happened. Discarding the wilted husk of his victim he lay back. His muscles twitched and his skin tightened, new found strength poured into his body. Darius opened his eyes. The scene shocking him for a moment, trees glowed with a green haze, the sky so clear now the stars and waning moon shone like the terrible sun. Turning he looked to the mule still hobbled at the campsite. It too had a glow about it, but it was the colour of blood. Crimson and bright and yet he felt no more hunger for it. The vampire stood and faced a nearby young birch tree. Knowing his intent Darius clenched a fist and thrust forward with all the power he could muster. The birch felt like water to his knuckles and splintered away allowing the twenty foot tree to topple and fall. The young vampire spread his lips into a grin, then widened it to a smile and screamed a soul tearing howl into the night, then in a flash of leaves, Darius was gone.