The year was 1348, and the air smelled thick of decay. Outside, the Black Death swept through village after village, claiming entire families and leaving streets silent but for the occasional cries of the few who remained. In a dimly lit room above a small cottage, Elysia lay, frail and fading, each breath a struggle.
A cloaked figure entered, barely more than a shadow against the dim candlelight, his face hidden beneath a hood. This was Adric, a vampire who'd lived for centuries, watching humanity rise and fall, struggle and thrive. But this—this plague was different. This disease showed no mercy. He had spent nights listening to her feverish murmurings, noticing her spirit despite her weakened state. There was something rare in her, an inner strength that had drawn him back to her bedside time and time again. And here she was, slipping away as the world outside crumbled.
He knelt beside her, his face creased with conflict. It was forbidden—vampires never changed children. The risks were too great, the challenges immense. A child who was made eternal would forever carry the innocence and vulnerability of youth while grappling with a thirst for blood, never truly able to walk the path of an adult. It was cruel. And yet, Elysia's spirit tugged at something deep within him.
Adric could sense she was close to the edge, the thin line between life and death. He tightened his jaw, the struggle within him evident as he watched her fight to breathe. In his centuries, he had turned only a few mortals, each decision a careful balance of caution and necessity. But here, reason slipped away.
"If I do this," he murmured to himself, "I betray the code." But the words felt hollow against the undeniable pull to save her.
Elysia's eyes fluttered open, a glimmer of recognition shining in the depths of her fever-bright gaze. She looked up at him, something like peace in her eyes, as though she sensed what he was contemplating. "Help me…" she whispered, her voice barely audible, filled with a trust that shattered his last defenses.
With a resolve he hadn't realized he could muster, Adric lowered himself, pressing his wrist to her lips. As he did, he whispered a soft prayer—a request for forgiveness from whatever gods might still be listening, a plea that he had made the right choice. He felt her lips part, barely conscious as her body instinctively responded. He willed his blood into her, feeling it course through her weakening veins.
At first, nothing happened. Her breaths continued, labored and slow, each one fainter than the last. And then, a shudder. Her body tensed, her eyes snapping open as if reborn into this dark world. They were no longer the fevered eyes of a dying child but the bright, keen gaze of something… other.
The transformation was swift and brutal. Her frail body convulsed, and he could see the fear and pain ripple through her as she fought against the hunger rising within. Adric remained close, murmuring to her, grounding her in what would be an agonizing first few moments.
As her breathing steadied, he gently took her face in his hands. "Elysia, listen to me. You've been given a new life, a dark life. It will be hard, and it will be lonely. But I will guide you."
Her small, trembling hand reached up to his, her eyes wide with questions she couldn't yet voice. For a moment, he hesitated, seeing in her the delicate balance between innocence and the immortal hunger now surging within her. He knew that life as a daywalker, the rarest gift among vampires, would offer some ease for her journey. But it would also invite dangers beyond even his understanding.
As dawn broke, the first rays of sunlight slipped through the window. In the dim light, he watched as her skin did not blister, did not recoil from the touch of sunlight. Instead, she looked down at herself, eyes widening at the miracle.
"You are one of us, yet different. Sunlight will not harm you," he whispered, his voice filled with awe and a hint of reverence. He did not fully understand what he had created, but he knew she was something unique.
Together, they stepped into the new day, a fledgling vampire and her reluctant sire, both bound by a choice that would shape the centuries ahead. Elysia would learn that her new life was not a gift but a burden, an existence haunted by blood and the shadows of memories that would span lifetimes. But in this moment, the warmth of the sun felt like hope.
And so, her dark journey began.