Holding the glass vial in my hand my face paled as I felt the still warm liquid slosh around inside, "W-who's blood is this?"
Atravius frowned, "It does not matter, blood is blood. You do not have the privilege of being picky. Now drink."
Pushing my thumb against the cork I heard it release with a soft pop and my eyes narrowed into pinpricks as the familiar smell of blood wafted into my nose.
My entire body shook as my throat went dry, but to my horror instead of being repulsed, an overwhelming urge to drink every last drop in vial slammed against my mind.
At first I tried to push back against the urge but as the seconds trickled by I felt my body start to protest. An intense hunger dropped like a stone in my stomach and I almost dropped to a knee from the pain.
"Do not fight it, eventually you will succumb. Even in my thousands of years I have only been able to go a few months before I was forced to drink." Atravius' voice echoed in my ears even though all I could see was the vial of blood.
Then before I knew it I felt the warm glass press against my lips as the first drops of blood dribbled into my mouth.
My entire body shook as a warmth flooded through my body filling me with strength. Tiling back the vial I greedily gulped the warm vicious blood and didn't stop until the last drop slid from the glass.
A state of pure ecstasy washed over my mind and I had trouble keeping my eyes open. Then my heart pounded and everything snapped back into focus.
Opening my eyes I looked down at the empty vial on the floor and for a moment I wondered whose blood now filled my stomach.
"Welcome to House Vitamori Fledgling Ramos. You have completed the ritual, with blood freely taken and blood freely given."
Atravius' voice was different, filled with a gravity that almost sounded tender, "You are now ready to learn what I have to teach you."
It was clear from Atravius' tone that whatever ritual I had partaken in was not something that happened every day.
"Teach me?" I asked, wondering what lessons the vampire could possibly impart to me.
"When you accepted my offer in the church you stepped on a road, a long and dangerous one." Atravius spoke gravely as he fixed me with a deathly stare, "And now that we are of the same blood, your life will be under constant threat."
"From who?" I asked the panic I felt creeping into my voice making it jump up an octave.
Atravius let out a long sigh as if remembering a painful event in the past, "From the Noble Houses, that rule over Vampirian Society. We can go into details later, all you need to know is that they will spare no effort to kill you when they find out you are a Vitamori."
"How am I a Vitamori, and why is it worth killing me over?!" I continued to question.
"You are a Vitamori because I was the one to turn you into a Vampire. And it's worth killing you over, because we represent something too great to go unchecked. Why do you think you stumbled upon me in the depths of a mountain far away from anything that comes close to civilization." Atraivus explained while gesturing around him.
My mind raced as the dot started to connect, "You're hiding from them, the other Houses. And they're looking for you, or do they think you're dead?"
Atravius stared at me with a measuring look in his eyes, "I don't know for certain what my enemies think. But I think they want to believe I am dead, they want to believe that House Vitamori is no more."
"They're afraid," I blurted out as I realized what Atravius was alluding to, "They're afraid of you, but why?"
Atravius let out a reluctant sigh, "I was planning to discuss this later in your lessons but since you are so persistent I see no harm in telling you now.
Each Vampirian House possesses a unique bloodline that grants an equally unique form of magic often referred to as Blood Sorcery.
There are five Houses that still exist in the current age, Carnos, Mortus, Lepos, Umbra and Vitamori. And while each House's Blood Sorcery is a powerful tool in the hands of a master, our bloodline makes us an incredibly difficult enemy to face."
My mind flashed back to the church as everyone around me erupted from the inside out as their bones turned against them, "You used it back in the church, to kill everyone."
Atravius nodded nonchalantly as if I had brought up the weather, "Yes but that was more for show than anything practical. Perhaps it's better if I give you a proper demonstration. "
The vampire held up his hand and I watched with wide eyes as a snow white blade erupted out of his forearm. The sword was nearly two feet long and looked razor sharp even from a distance away. But it took me a minute to realize that the blade growing out of Atravius' skin was actually his bone.
As if seeing the realization on my face Atravius held up his other hand and I watched as a droplet of blood floated up his palm before it started to snake through the air, "Our Blood Sorcery is called Carnomancy, it allows us to manipulate the aether that exist within flesh, blood, muscles, bones or any other living tissue. Our bloodline also increases our bodies' natural affinity with Aether making us a near perfect conduit."
Atraivus lowered his hands and the bone and blood seamlessly disappeared back into his body, "However out of all the Bloodlines, ours is the hardest to master. As it requires an in-depth understanding of the body to unlock its full potential, something that takes decades of study and practical experience."
The vampire looked up to stare into my eyes, "Unfortunately you only have a year."
"What?! Why a year?"
"There is a school called Bloodrise Academy that all Fledgling Vampires must attend for at least five years. When the new year starts you are going to join the Academy announcing the rebirth of house Vitamori."
"They'll kill me," I shouted out in protest while shaking my head back and forth.
Atravius held up his hand to stop my ranting before he explained his reasoning, "They won't be able to. There is a rule that any Fledgling vampire enrolled in the academy can not be involved with High Society. It is also overseen by one of the few individuals that I can allow myself to trust."
"So my life won't be in danger?" I asked skeptically knowing there was another shoe about to drop.
Atravius smiled but it didn't do anything to settle my nerves, "Oh no quite the opposite, while outright killing is prohibited students are encouraged to fight amongst each other. As the saying goes steel sharpens steel. But remember accidents can always happen, I don't doubt for a moment the other Patriarch won't hesitate to sacrifice one of theirs to make sure you don't become a thorn in their sides."
"Then how am I supposed to survive?" I stressed wondering if Atravius had really turned me into a vampire just to sacrifice me like a pawn.
"Simple," Atravius answered as a blood chilling smile spread across his lips and his fangs gleamed despite there being no light in the room, "Kill everyone that gets in your way."
Once more I was reminded that the man who stood in front of me wasn't really a man, but a creature capable of killing a room full of people in the blink of an eye. And from how Atravius was talking he wanted me to be the exact same.
The terrifying part however was that I didn't recoil at the idea. I imagined how my life could have been different if I possessed even a fraction of the power Atravius displayed. I could have saved my home from burning, broken the chains that bound my hands and feet when my captors marched me across the desert, or burned the Holy City to the ground until it was nothing more than a pile of ashes.
My breath stopped as that last thought echoed through my mind and I forced my clenched fist to uncurl from where it had bit into my palm. Taking a deep steadying breath I realized how close I was to teetering on the edge of a complete breakdown.
The fact that it hadn't yet was even more troublesome. I had cried and grieved over losing everything I once cherished but the dawn always loomed over the horizon, another day's worth of trials to see whether or not I would survive.
For the past five years I had been scrambling to stay alive, stuck in constant fight or flight and my mind made sure that nothing got in the way of that vital decision. However, the seal had cracked and my mind was struggling to keep everything together.
But today wasn't the day the walls would come crumbling down leaving me defenseless. Focusing my gaze I stared Atravius in the eyes, "I will learn what I need to survive."
"Then eventually you will learn how to kill," Atravius corrected but then his posture relaxed, "For now however, there are far more foundational skills you need to grasp. Are you ready?"
After taking in a steady breath I nodded once.
"Then let us begin."