Adrian Blackwood's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

The lord kept his first lesson short. "The hunger drives the hands," he said in the cellar. "You cannot fight it. You must chain it before you go near a human." He pressed a small vial into Adrian's palm. "Drink one drop when the fever rises. It slows you. But it will not last long, and I have only this one." Then he sent Adrian out into the night to try. Adrian carried his hunger down into the town square. Moonlight lay on the fountain and the closed market stalls. A single figure sat on a bench near the water. His teeth ached. His hands wanted to move on their own. He took out the vial and drank a drop. The world slowed. His breath cooled. He stepped toward the bench, calm at last. The person turned. It was not a person. Light poured off her wings, soft as candle glow. A fairy hovered a foot above the bench, delicate and small, her hair drifting. "You're the new one," she said. "The old vampire in the hills sent you, didn't he." Her voice held no fear. That frightened Adrian more than a scream would have. "I need to feed," he said. "But I won't kill. I can't hold myself when it takes over." His hand shook around the empty vial. The single drop was already fading. He felt the hunger climb his spine again. The fairy studied him. She drifted toward a nearby shop with glowing windows, its shelves crowded with charms and sleeping creatures. "I grant wishes," she said. "Not gifts. A wish costs. Tell me the true one." "I wish to feed without harming anyone. Ever." The words came fast. The hunger surged, and Adrian's knees bent to spring. He fought it and lost. He lunged. The fairy touched two fingers to his forehead. Warmth spread through his skull. The lunge died mid-air. He froze, then dropped to the cobblestones, gasping. The hunger still burned, but now a small clear voice sat behind it, steady, holding the reins. He could think while starving. He could stop. "The wish is granted, in part," she said. "You have the will now. Not the food." She hovered close. "But wishes take payment. You'll owe me a service, vampire. I'll name it when I choose. Refuse, and the gift unravels." Adrian rose. The vial was empty and useless, and he no longer needed it. He had won the thing the lord's drug only faked. He could face a human and hold his own hands. "What service?" he asked. The fairy only smiled and folded her wings. "Later. For now, go find something warm to drink, and prove you meant your wish." She rose toward the glowing shop and was gone. Adrian stood alone by the fountain. He had the control at last. But he had traded one master's debt for two.