VTM Story

 VTM Story Write Up. Prelude Chapter for Ongoing Campaign

Alex Cough woke up on the concrete floor of the apartment sized storage  locker that he used as a haven. Alex was a pale faced tall man that looked to be in his mid 20s. By all accounts he looked like a loser...because by all accounts he was one. Both as a human and what followed after he had turned. 

He woke up ravenously hungry, and nearly delirious. In a blind panic he looked around, searching to make sure that his ghouls had delivered his prey for the evening. 

The voice in the back of his mind was loud and angry like it always was when it wasn't actively suppressed. "Your boys screwed up. They couldn't get the dogs or the animal tranquilizer for you tonight. Now you've got no choice but to let me take over and start acting like a proper lick." 

For a moment he believed it as he stood up and looked around and sheer panic began to take over. But a moment later that started to subside when he saw three sleeping dogs locked up in cages and sprawled out on the floor. He sighed with relief. 

"This is disgusting...it's a joke. Your pathetic Alex. How long can you keep going like this?" The voice howled in his ear. 

Alex bent down and his fangs came out. He bit into the first dog and started to drain it dry. Moments later, the animal tranquilizer drugs found its way into Alex's blood stream. 

"Just shut up and drown in it," Alex muttered out loud to the beast inside him. He felt normal...normal and drowsy, which was a good thing. But he needed more. A few minutes later, the remaining two dogs were drained and then he felt that drowsy high take over him and the harsh gutteral voice drowned with it, at least for the time being. It wasn't nearly enough to satiate the powerful hunger that had built up over the last few nights, but it would be enough to get through the evening...

After changing his clothes, Alex opened up the storage locker and walked across the street to work. 

The night shift at Wendy's went by quietly. His boss, a burly man named Mohamed, was upset that he had called out sick the last two nights, but other than some muttered cursing, didn't say much to him. On the plus side though, he shared the shift with Ryan, his ghoul and former friend from his short stint at community college a few years back. They didn't speak much, but Alex was able to pass along a hand written note and some cash, requesting that the next delivery of tranquilized dogs arrive in three nights. When Ryan saw the note he blinked and shook his head. "The source is getting jumpy. He's upped the price. Gonna take more money." 

Alex sighed. "Ok, we'll find another source for this week. Better to take the pressure off. We'll talk more after the shift's over." 

  Around 8 hours later, Alex finished the shift and then went with Ryan to hang out a gaming internet cafe in a mall across the street from where they had worked. They had a good time watching a Twitch stream of a girl that played video games all the time and making funny remarks in the chat. It was a nice escape from the harsh realities of his life...both the unlife he had now, and the human one he had before. 

"Alright Ryan, don't worry about the dog stuff. I'm sure I'll think of something tomorrow night. Oh..and yah know it doesn't always have to be a dog either. I guess a cat could work too." He suddenly felt a little awkward and ashamed of what he had forced himself to do each night. Ryan just nodded his head, not seeming to care. "No worries bro, I'm sure I can rustle up something for tomorrow night. Might not be anything huge, but hopefully good enough to keep the wheels turnin." 

Alex parted ways with Ryan in the parking lot of the mall. Ryan was returning to his apartment by car, while Alex took a back way through another parking lot to get to his storage shed a little quicker. 

That's when he noticed the two other vampires sitting out in front of the dumpster at the furthest edge of the parking lot. They looked like two young adult men, dressed in street clothes, shorts and tee shirts...not even appropriate considering it was cold and raining out. They looked daxed and confused and they weren't even trying to hide their appearances...they just looked like two pale corpses. 

Alex walked up to them cautiously. "Hey what's up. What brings yah'all lick to this part of town?"

One of them...a burly looking man brimming with muscles, quickly wiped a smidge of blood from his face. He quickly got to his feet and looked like he was about to run. 

"I...I don't even know what happened man. I don't know what I am. I don't know what's happening to me." 

The other man was thin and pasty looking, with long slicked back black hair and wide glasses. "Dude...dude, I swear we didn't do anything wrong. It's just, we were out partying, and then...I can't even describe what's been happenin the last few nights to us bro."

It took Alex a minute to take it all in and process it all. But very quickly the peices fell into place. It was then that he noticed the all too familiar stench coming from the dumpster. 

"Wait a minute...you guys really don't know do you? I mean no one told you WTF was up when you got turned?"

Seeing the blank stares, Alex beckoned to them. "I think we should talk but not here. If you follow me, I can show you a safe place you can stay tonight...these storage lockers they got for rent. We're also going to have to do something about the guy you killed and threw in that dumpster. Thankfully I've got some people that can help with that. But anyway...let's talk. I think after I fill you in we can come to an arrangement, and make the most of this situation we're all in." 

Alex knew that he was doing was risky. But if his own sire had just dumped him out in the street, he probably would have been in a similar situation. "Pay it forward." Alex muttered, as he led the fast forming coterie to the storage lockers down the street.