Shortly after, Daniel strolls through a neighborhood on his way back to his townhouse. He thinks to himself, “Man.. maybe I went a little overkill with the whole jaw thing.. Nah, but the look on his face was priceless!” Letting that thought sit in his head for a moment, he looks down at the sidewalk with a much more sober expression. “This whole thing has just been such a complete shit show. The word filth wouldn't be fitting enough, I feel dirty, I look hideous, and this hunger.. Oh my goodness, I damn near almost killed the geezer where he stood if I didn't pull away at the last second!” He briefly looks over his shoulder as he passes another street lamp. “It’s.. starting to feel inevitable. The near-death experience of trying to eat regular foods. Nearly suffocated on an apple that one time, paired with that uneasy temptation I get everytime I’m around people, that smell that permeates off their skin.. And based on what that harlot said before she jumped out the window!” He stops as the wind kicks up his trenchcoat, “Is it inevitable?! Will I actually kill someone?! And if so, when and how!!?! I can't keep doing this!!” Deathly worried and sweating, he continued walking. “I bet all the others did it on the first day, as soon as they got hungry, they gave in! They went and drank! But not me, who knows what my fate would be? To kill and consume the creation of the Most High?? I would most surely die! Damned if I do! Damned if I don't!" He slows down, “But.. I think there are more pressing matters at hand…” As he comes to a stop and relaxes, he mutters with a serious, almost annoyed expression, “Like that guy that's been following me…”

  His eyes gaze over to the houses behind him, looking specifically in the direction of where their backyards would be on the other side. “He's been hopping over the fence..” Holding his breath and focusing only in the direction in which he is looking, blocking out the wind and the trees rustling about, blocking out the leaves scurrying across the roads and the crickets and grasshoppers… Until the only thing he can hear is the sound of creaking wood. He turns away and begins to hear the surroundings again, "He's hanging off the fence.” Daniel turns around and begins walking, still making sure to listen in and hearing what sounds like feet moving against the wood. He abruptly stops. And as he does, he is shocked to hear a second pair of feet leaping off and hitting the ground. “There’s a second guy?! Dropped down about a meter next to the guy still hanging!.” All three of them are still and holding their breath, not wanting to make clear to the other the knowledge that the other knows they are aware of them. “What’s more concerning is how can they see me and I can't see them? They clearly know when I’m moving! Can they hear me? Are there.. Are there more vampires than I previously thought possible?! And if so, why are they following me?!! SHIT!” As Daniel senses that he is in grave danger, he looks forward and begins to run, colliding head on with the person who was trying to get his attention for the past 2 minutes, knocking them over. “Mast- OOF!”

  The two of them stagger backwards, with the stranger falling over due to frailty. Daniel looked down in confusion and annoyance, “Ugh- what the? Ah, damn sorry man.” The stranger, wearing a long black hooded cloak, coughs and groans. Flipping himself over and answering in a carefully articulated, shaky exhalation, almost gravely voice, with pauses to catch breaths of air. “Master… hehehehe. How long have I- awaited for your- arrival..” He lifts himself up and stands hunched forward with a crooked, uncanny smile, and horribly off-putting bags under his eyes paired with ragged hair. His forehead was a bit to big and his eyes a tad too far apart. The two stand there and look at each other while the wind whistles by, with the stranger locked in an unflinching eye bulging stare. Being a little creeped out, and starting to think scaring people wasn't so funny anymore, Daniel shouts at the man, “Alright, bro i said i was sorry, what's your deal?... And how long were you standing there for?” “Bullnapar.” He says without breaking eye contact. “My name is Bullnapar. As for how long I have been, standing here.. Long enough to see that there was- something greatly- distressing you behind the houses… hehehe” His freakish grin grows wider as he tilts his head sideways, his eyelids relaxing slightly. Daniel side eyes the building with an uneasy expression, “Talk about selective hearing.” Then, snapping back to the intruder as he has seemingly gotten closer to him by one meter. Daniel takes a step back, while Bullnapar squints at him, smile unchanged, and realigns his head.

  “That's close enough!” Upon further inception, Bullnapar doesn't have red eyes, nor fangs, and still has skin color. Ruling him out as a vampire. Daniel goes on to ask, “And where did your friends go? The ones that were with you, the ones behind the houses. Where are they?” The creep raises his head out of the shadows and into the light, amused with a frown, “Master. Master! Why do you trouble yourself with such, mortals? Why do you- worry about such inferior beings to yourself?! I have come, alone, to see you in your flesh.. Of whom you speak of, I know not…” before Bullnapar can continue, Daniel interrupts him, “Hey Freakshow! Enough with the weird talking and breathing, and stop calling me master! Its wrong- " "UURRRGHHH, why are you putting up such a fuss?!” Bullnapar shouts mildly annoyed, “Huff* this is taking forever, my lord. How many more questions are you going to ask!? Is this an Interrogation?!? Next, you are going to, ask me, what my business is? Why am I here?! Why am I dressed like this?! How did I find you?... That last one was rather simple, really. With your attire, you stand out quite well amongst laymen. And when I saw what you did at the, hair cutting place…” he smiles widely with smug eyes. “And by that, arousing feeling that follows you so prudently, I knew for certain what you were.” Although his annoyed confusion hasn't entirely passed, “BUT, what I CAN'T understand is, how you're not getting it.. Since I have come to you whilst you are so, terribly hungry… any of the other gods would have understood, clearly..” Shock overruns Daniel as he extrudes a long, wary face, “Other? Gods?”

  Bullnapar continues, “But alas let us just, get to the point. The Rite, will be much more. conservative.. hehehe. I would ask you to follow me but, it does not matter, here is fine.” from the infolds of his cloak he pulls out a chalice and a waved kris dagger, with its silver glaring into Daniel's eyes. “Hey, what are you doing?” Bullnapar grins with an erratic excitement, “Offering.. Worship…” He gets down on his knees and kneels before Daniel, whispering something incomprehensible to him while he takes the blade and slits his palm and pours it into the cup… careful not to slip any of it, “Come. Sit. Eat and Drink. This is my blood, which I have spilled for you and your favor..” Daniel, looking down at him, is so devastatingly struck with horror that he is unable to move, with his jaw gaping to the floor. “What!?” “ahhh one is not enough, two will do..” Once the blood flow slows down, Bullnapar squeezes his hand tightly, passing the knife over and slitting his other palm. As the scent rises into the air in an invisible mist, as pure blood hits his nose, paired with the unfathomable actions done before him, Daniel falls to a seat in front of him, overcome with sensory overload. Thinking to himself in a hazed spiral, “Oh-. Oh my. This- this can't get any worse..” “Worship? Other gods? This all has to be one sick joke. I must-” A whiff of fresh pure blood rushes into his nose uninvited, and a grim slime spreads across his face. “I must be dreaming…”

  “Heh, one sip wouldn't hurt. I've been starving anyway, could it really be that bad?” Daniel slowly tilts his head sideways with a perverted smile, mesmerized by the emissions of fresh blood. Thinking to himself, "I've been practically dragging my feet around; if anything, this would be a blessing. No?” He fidgets with his hands questioning whether or not to drink what has been offered to him. He did not have to kill, hurt, or skin his teeth into anyone; it came to him out of someone's own will and discussion; is he actually going to reject that? Is he really going to waste the gift of life? His thoughts and judgment have been clouded in sin and consumed by dark immorality. To actually want to drink human blood, all of this rigorous abstaining and discipline could drive a layman to the brink of insanity, total mental annihilation. The only problem is that Daniel is only a frog hairs away from giving in, as a single plate of brittle steel upholding an entire warehouse full of cinder block concrete. He can try, he can toil, he can stall all he wants, and use whatever reasoning he wishes. But the steel will break.

  “Ok. Just one gulp and that's it, one sip and I'll be fine! No more than that!” as Daniel, with sweated palms and shaky hands, reaches out to the chalice with a slow hesitation, still feeling a sense of conflict for what he is about to do, and then… He stops... Mid outstretched arm halted. During the time of his deliberation with himself, he was not concerned with or paying attention to what Bullnapar was doing. In the just passed moments, the freak was nothing more than a blur mixed in with the environment behind him. As to what has held Dainel and is making his smile quickly fade away is what he just saw Bullnapar do. He drank the blood... right in front of Daniel. He took a sip first, then quickly lowered his gaze to show reverence as his own thick blood staining and smearing his perverted teeth gurgled down his throat. In his mind, this was something to be expected; sharing a meal with your gods was proper worship, but as Daniel is holding, he thinks to himself, he waits patiently for him to take the cup. "He's awfully quiet from one in his state.. He's also taking his time… Did I upset him? No, I did everything right! I think...” An expression of worry washes over him, “Maybe i should not have drunk first! Damn! Should I open my eyes?- No!” Now, an expression of dread, “I will most surely be stricken down and punished for this.. I'll just plead for him to be gentle." He slowly opens his eyes in a squinted hesitation... With a mix of an embarrassed head rush and subsequent bafflement, Bullnarpar looks on with his earlier happiness and eager demeanor absent, eyes wide, only worried for what the coming moments will bring. Daniel is seen having what can only be described as a psychotic breakdown, twitching, animalistic grunting, and foaming at the mouth as he grits his teeth and fangs—convulsive and distressing movements as he snarls at the black sky.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  He forgot about everything, his hunger-his pain-what he is, he forgot about his transgression-his mistake-the girl who did this to him, he forgot about Father-his severance from the body of Christ, his family and friends that he loves and has not seen in weeks. He forgot about his rotting fridge at home, now filled with slowly expiring food; he forgot about the discomfort and embarrassment of having to sleep in a casket for the dead every single night; he forgot about his burning in prayer-his death by holiness when interacting with anything blessed. He forgot about his unending, miserable, permanent torment, he shouts in his mind, “And for what?! For sex!?! For pleasure??! I threw away everything for this?! DAMN YOU!” The only thing he can remember is a burning hatred for any and all evil; as he snaps to give an affixed wide stare to a horrified Bullnapar, his brooding red eyes jolting about, his breathing winded, heavy and pressurized. Having a look of a wild animal eyeing up its prey to see if it can kill it. Because all Danial saw was blasphemy, and the penalty was Death.

  “AND YOU!” Danial barked enraged, as the fearful occultist fletched stood paralyzed. “Here’s what I think about your gift!!” he whined up his leg and with an explosive kick launched the chalice into the air and spraying the blood therein across the lawn of a poor household. As it lay there splattered and dripping fresh and potent of the blades of grass, there are no words–no thoughts in Bullnapar’s psyche, the totality of shock and rejection is far too great for any realm of rational thinking. Horrified and coming back to his senses rapidly after seeing Daniel walking towards him with an intent that was less than friendly, he turns to run in panic, “I can serve you in other ways!” But Daniel dashes forward and grapples him as he secures and worms around, “No! Stop-wait!” He holds him by the collar of his cloak, now the only expression Bullnarpar can bear is fear, REAL FEAR.

  Tense and twitching in urgent escape, head turned away from him in anticipation of being struck and beaten to near death, his legs go numb, and his head becomes terribly heavy as he pants like a dog. Slowly being lifted off the ground and held up like a man who's put himself on the noose, for what the situation has come to is practically suicide. He's about to pass out as his eyes begin to roll to the back of his head, briefly glancing farewell to the moon, for his hour has come…

  … But instead of punches, kicks, slashes–clawing, bites, and the ripping apart of flesh and bone. He instead hears, weeping… Throwing him completely off guard, he nervously looks over to see Daniel's head lowered, tears falling from his face. His grip softens, and Bullnapar is let down slowly with grace, as who he thought would be his killer places their head into his chest. Bullnapar leans on him with a gentle relief in his legs and poster, feeling the vampire's hot breath along wet tears pressing against his ribcage, looking down at him with a soft look of what seemed like compassion. Daniel, in a deep drowning of sorrow, looks up at him with pain-ridden eyes and a shaky voice, “Why are you breaking my heart? Why you. Who is living? Work with evil, and sleep with the devil?... Why are you running yourself through the gutter and putting to vain your precious blood?! You have made me more sick than I could ever hope to bear. Do you know what I would do to get back to your position? I would slay hundreds and tens of thousands, I would bring down into ruin nation after nation. I would sell every last thing that I owned and give the profits to the poor. I would be the soldier who pierced His right side, weeping afterwards as the blood and water hit my eyes. Because love is worth the entire world over and over again and yet it has no price… And yet EVERYONE around me is sleeping on their asses and I want to tear their insides out because of how much it's being put to waste… So I ask you, why are you doing this??”

  Bullnapar, after hearing these things and taking in his word, looks at him sideways. A mix of disbelief and confusion as he ponders the speech for a little longer. Then superiority enters his eyes, and he grins as he pities him and looks down on such a weak and feeble demon, who has surely become delusional. His smug look turns to a chuckle, which goes on to become a decried manic laugh. “Yes master, yes. Your pity party is quite- amusing! But I do ask that you refrain from such ridiculous thinking! You are what you are, and no one can change that. And no one is coming to save you! We are our own gods after all, it's time you started acting like one!” He face palms with his cut hand, smearing the blood on his face and then putting his open wound to Daniel's mouth, he just wants to leave. Being in the presence of such a pathetic vampire was starting to irritate him, “Now drink you beautiful horror so that at the very least-” his heart stops–eyes dilate as Daniel's grip tightens like a hydraulic arm. As hatred and envy sharpen his face like razorblades, a face with eyes so prudent and smiteful they could kill men like a bitter winter. His teeth were those of a lion or some other manner of wild beast as he brandished and gritted his fangs, saliva and drool spraying on Bullnapar's face and dripping down to the floor with every breath echoing to the abyss. Bullnapar quickly pleads, “Wait-wait-wait! I'm sorry! You don't have to do this!-”

  Daniel interrupts him, pressing his forehead against his with a loud, tormenting scream, "YOU SICK ANIMAL!!” before winding his foot back and pulling him down to deliver a thunderously concussive kick to the stomach, sending the dust off his back like an explosive musket shot. As his whole body reverberates, his brain bounces around his skull. Enduring a monster's whirlwind of fury, 84 Newtons of fury to be exact. In a sort of slow motion, Bullnapar looks up to who he once thought to be his master, as his silver cross bearing the Victory begins to launch up from his breast pocket and shimmer. “WHAATTTTT!?!?!” Bullnapar yells in his aching mind, consumed by the thought. Now everything has been thrown upside down; this is like nothing he has ever seen before, he really did mean everything he said earlier! A demon who loves God?! It can’t be real, blasphemous even for his standards. He wants to think that this is all just some terrible nightmare that he’ll wake up and forget about, but that writhing pain in his core ensures him it’s all very, very real.

  “THE GATES OF HELL OPEN TO SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!!” proclaims Daniel with another emotional outcry, pulling him down once more as he delivers another devastating blow. As his foot slammed into Bullnapar's frail and brittle rib cage, a horrible sound of wooden planks and vegetables being bent and crushed with loud snaps was all that could be heard. He cannot scream his pain; he can only pitifully whimper and twitch in a cry of unbelief and tears. Daniel grabs him by the wrists and lifts him up like a ragdoll, his feet briefly leaving the ground, then putting almost all of his weight and power into a shock-inducing front kick to the stomach that sends both his hat flying backwards and Bullnapar forward about nine metres airborne before crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop…

  A heavy silence fills the air as Daniel's pale stature in a half fighting stance begins to slow his asphyxiated breaths; he spent a lot of calories that he wasn't going to make back anytime soon… The chilly night air rushes towards him in a gust of wind, but as the drops of sweat fall from his face, his mind is given a moment to clear… He stopped, and so did the wind, and his heart along with them. Bullnapar was not breathing... Nor was he moving. Daniel went too far. He looked down at his hands and was reminded of all the times when physical activity was once so strenuous before his change, now being nothing more than a cakewalk. He is much stronger now, too strong, and Bullnapar was very weak. He looks back up to see Bullnapar in a haunting face-down position. Daniel begins to panic, “oh Shit- SHIT!” his head jolts around to see if anyone was there. He turns to run, snatching up his fedora and not looking back. He ran, and he ran. He ran into the shadows, not wanting to believe that he had just killed a man.