The First

Chapter 2

    Sean Seldon fixed his tie in the mirror one last time before heading out the door of his apartment. He was late for work again. He always managed to think he had more time than what he actually had. For someone that was one hundred and thirty five years old, it was strange how fast a few minutes passed sometimes. He wouldn't actually be late to work though. He never was. All he had to do to make up some time was to hit a few backstreets. Then, with his speed he could make up the lost time easily. Technically, he didn't have to take the backstreets if he wanted to show his full speed, but most humans would be uncomfortable seeing a man run faster than their car. They would still give him a polite smile but he knew what that smile meant. Don't piss off the monster that could so easily crush the car into an accordion. 

    He didn't want to deal with it so he did what he always did when he was late. Instead of heading down to the street and into his car or around back to the alleyway, he went up to the roof. The sun was just starting to peak through the clouds. Since his apartment building was one of the highest in the city, nobody but other infected would catch him bouncing off the roof tops. It was faster, easier and even though he has lived as a human for many many years he still found it nice to remember who he really is. He was a vampire.  

    One year in college he volunteered for a lab experiment. The pay was very good, almost ten times more than anything else being offered. The catch was that you had to quality. They provided a very long survey for applicants to fill out. At the time, he thought some of the questions asked where very strange. One question asked how he liked his steak while another asked if he preferred the daytime or nighttime. For a lab testing a medication for leg spasms, those questions made him question exactly what he as getting into. That year he was the only one that made the cut. He later found out that the doctor preforming the test was a vampire and that he had just volunteered to be infected. 

    Sean took one step on the roof and took a long deep breath. He loved the feel of the wind hitting his face. There was something primal of looking out into the city from this height and feeling your superiority to the masses. Don't get him wrong, he liked humans. He loved mostly everything about that. He loved how they prepared their food, how they obsessed over the most non essential things, how you could be in a room full of humans that every single one of them was different. From the hair on their head all the way down to their toes. He loved humans. He should after all, he was once one of them. His maker, Nathan, was a born vampire and a real doctor, but in Sean's opinion the old goat was getting tired of always being alone. So he made a family. Sean had two sisters and two brother. They were all made vampires in similar fashion. 

    Not only was Nathan lonely, but he needed someone to care on his work when he was gone. Contrary to what humans believed, vampires were not immortal. It only seemed that way because vampires could live to be up to 250 years old. The virus in them slows down their aging process which makes them live longer. After him, Nathan made Tania, Maria, Max and Johnny.  The last one stuck. Johnny was the one taking care of the lab now that Nathan had passed away. It wasn't a shock when he passed. We knew it was coming for some time. The virus worked slow in their system, but once it hit a certain point, you knew the end was near. Nathan first started to drop things right before he made Sean. That was his queue the needed help. After that, he only lasted a few decades. He passed away at a respectable vampire age of 186. 

    Johnny was born to be scientist. That was one of his majors in college before he was turned. Sean was more curious than anything else. He stuck around for the maker training and to learn the ins and outs of being an infected and then he moved on. He told Nathan he didn't want to spend his time in a dark dank lab all his life. Nathan understood. He gave him a card with a name and phone number of an individual who could help him disappear and reappear as someone new and wished him well. Then got to work on making his replacement. 

    Sean took one more long deep breath and jumped off the roof. The early morning lent the wind a nice bite when it whipped past his face. The exhilaration he felt every time he did this was freeing. He loved being a vampire. Especially since he can now be open about what he was. No more being paranoid that some human will see what he was capable of. No more hiding in the shadows afraid someone will find out and try to drive a stake through your heart. The reveal changed so many things for the infected. All his coworkers knew he was a vampire and they accepted him. They didn't invite him to go out drinking or anything but they were pleasant to him at work. For a brief moment before he jumped the thought he smelled blood in the wind but that could have come from anywhere. 

    Stepping into the office, he wished everyone a good morning while walking to his desk. He lived his job. He worked for a forwarding agency and handled import and export shipments. There was a lot attention to detail, but he learned something new every day. He didn't get bored and that was rare for someone like him. He sat down in his desk and got to work. Unlike humans, lunch time was optional for vampires. Most people don't want to think about a vampire drinking blood. Now a days, lunch consisted of a microwaveable blood bottle. Since the infected revealed themselves there was a number of companies now that made synthetic blood. His favorite were the Wonka brands. They made their drinks taste like human food or at least what we think human food tastes like. If humans tried it, they would say it tasted like metal, but vampires taste buds were much more sensitive. They could taste far more than the standard person. His favorite was Indica. It tasted like a double chocolate brownie. There were pricier than the typical blood types but well worth it when you just wanted some variety. 

    Most vampires he knew still preferred the original blood types. Personally he liked the O negative, but for work it really wasn't a good idea to drink a bottle that might have the same blood type as your co-worker so he kept a stash of Wonka bottles in his drawer. Anything to keep the weak little humans calm and feel safe while working with a monster. 

    The best part of his job was that it kept him engaged throughout the whole day. He didn't need to work of course. Like most vampires his age he was very well established, but since vampires don't sleep much, that left a lot of the day to fill, why not make more money in the meantime. Most of his siblings owned companies. Tania had her club. Maria and himself owned real estate and made a nice living off of the rents and Max lived off the trust that Nathan had provided for all of them. He keeps his expenses to a minimum and if he feels like working he could usually find him working as a mechanic. He was still young though. He was turned only 40 years ago. He was also the oldest person that Nathan had turned. Max was already thirty years old when Nathan turned him, but after Sean and the girls left, he thought that maybe someone more mature would be able to take over the lab. Max turned out to be the wildest of us all. He was tall, built, tanned skin and had piercings and tattoos everywhere and he did mean everywhere. 

    Finishing up his reports and responding to urgent emails, the day went by fast. Before he knew it it was six and time for him to go home. He said his good evenings and good night to the co-workers as he walked out the door. It didn't take that long to get home. Once there, he had hours to kill before his body needed to sleep. Once again he smelled blood as he landed on his rood top. Maybe he was just hungry. After some time sitting at home working on his pet project, he decided he needed to go out for a run. The city was surrounded by woods and he took full advantage. He would go, stretch his legs out and catch a bite to eat. Maybe a deer.