Chapter One — A New Path Forms
(CONTENT WARNINGS: Bad Language, Sexual Innuendos, Panic Attacks, Discussions of Mental Health, Blood)

   WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? An age old question that philosophers have debated for centuries, and one question we may never find the answer to. Aristotelianism believes that life has an objective meaning, and that meaning is to be a good person, whilst Hedonism believes that life has subjective meaning, and that meaning is to have pleasure.

It was also a question Percy Cooper thought of daily, his first rising thought as he would wake up. What is the meaning of my life? What can I do today to make my life have meaning? Percy found himself usually following the Aristotleianism and Modern Humanism way of life, doing the most he could to help others around him.

He looked after his mother the best he could, which he'd done since his father had been arrested and sent to prison, and had only stopped when she'd moved into a nursing home not long before he'd started university. He still made an effort to see her at least once a week, still having an innate urge to protect her, to be her protector, her 'little hero' as he'd been once before.

He guest lectured at local universities evey so often, mostly at his former university and the ones in the city. It helped pay bills at least, and he enjoyed sharing his knowledge and thoughts with others. However, it still didn't give him that feeling of fulfilment, that he found his meaning in life, not even travelling the world, 'soul-searching'.

No matter what he did, he still felt like an empty vessel.

Taking up the job at Greenridge Animal Welfare Services, had definitely been a step out of his comfort zone; he'd never been allowed to have a pet growing up, and most of what he knew about animals was from books he'd read. He had a range of tasks, from interacting with both the shelter pets, as well as members of the public, giving information about adopting and caring for animals. He also found that working with the animals calmed down the thrumming in his chest that he always had, so really it was a win-win situation.

   Percy was on the late shift, flitting in between the holding room and reception. It was close to finishing time, and Percy was making sure the animals had enough food and drink for the night. One of his coworkers, Debra came into the holding room with a small pet carrier.

"A little bat," she grinned bemusedly, answering the question on his lips, and Percy moved to help her put the unconscious animal into a cage. Poor thing, Percy thought. Despite working here for a few years now, he never understood people who inflicted harm on others and animals. She pulled out her phone and showed him a picture. "Doesn't he look like a little British man?"

The bat in question looked very much a little British and it was slightly disconcerting. "You know what, he does." His scanned the rest of the picture. "...Oh my god, the bat is erect. I can't unsee it."

Debra laughed, "Funny, right?" She moved to leave the room, "The little guy will need a rabies shot, so would you be able to put this guy on the system? I'm just going to show this Bobby."

Percy nodded, "Sure, I'll do that now." It would be best anyway, as the cats were now very aware of the new arrival and they did not sound too pleased.

He followed Debra out of the holding room and went to the small office. He could hear Debra showing Bobby, and two other voices, which he guessed were visitors. Percy thought it was rather weird, considering most people who came at night came on an emergency basis. He filled in the details, logging the bat into the system. Once he'd finished, he slipped into the staff room to grab a drink.

He grabbed a mug from the cupboard and flicked the kettle on. Reaching into another cupboard, he pulled out a blood orange flavoured tea bag and popped it into the mug. He took a few deep breaths, and the kettle clicked, signifying it was ready. He poured hot water into the mug and waited a few minutes before discarding the tea bag into the small bin in the corner of the room.

He sat at one of the tables as Debra entered, a little frazzled.

"Everything okay?"

"Bat's gone missing. Lecter. Whole carrier completely gone."

Shit. That wasn't good. Lecter, as dubbed by the team, had been brought in with injuries from a cat a night previous.

"He was definitely there earlier. I fed him. So how the hell has he just disappeared?"

Debra shrugged noncommittally. "He was pretty much healed anyway, so glad he's back out there."

Percy nodded. "Relief for us that he's better and had his rabies shot. Imagine if it was our little British guy that escaped."

"Would've been hell to play." Debra chuckled.

The peace however was broken by barking and a suprised yell from Bobby. Debra sighed, "I'll see what the fuss is about." She left the room, leaving Percy in silence once more.

If he focused really hard, he could hear Debra talking to what he guessed was another new arrival. He got up from his seat, tea finished, and placed the cup in the sink.

He headed into the food preparation room, grabbing a bowl and dog food and water bottle from the respective cupboards. He carefully prepared everything, making sure everything was clean and safe to use. Once he was certain he was ready, Percy made his way into the holding room.

What poor Percy had not expected was two fully grown men in the cages. They were mid argument, and hadn't noticed his arrival. He stood there frozen, mind racing, as he struggled with what he should do next.

The man in the top cage, the one that had previous housed a bat turned to him sharply, and despite not being behind behind bars, Percy felt more like a caged animal.

"I say, unhand us at once!" The man snapped in a distinctly British voice, and Percy did a double take, for this man was unmistakably similar to the bat that had been brought in. The man was bearded, and was wearing clothes that may have been popular in the 18th century.

Still, all Percy could do was blink, his grip still on the water bottle and food bowl.

"Hello-ooo," the other man prompted. From what he could see, the man had long hair, and he drew a blank on placing the clothing and accent, though a gut instinct was telling him Persian.

The man spoke to his fellow captor above him. "He is not speaking, do you think he is afflicted with the hearing loss that Guillermo mentioned?"

The man harrumphed in annoyance. "I'm sure the clod can hear us just fine. He's more than likely just bone-idle or.."

"..he is a ghost." The other finished.

"Nandor. He opened the fucking door. He's not a bloody ghost." Then the attention was turned back into him.

"Boy. Did you fucking hear me? Release us!"

He watched as Nandor raised a hand. "You will forget everything that has hap–"

"Shut up Nandor!" The British man hissed crossly,

"I-uh I..I..umm." Percy's heart was hammering in his chest. This wasn't real, was it? He was just hallucinating. Definitely hallucinating. Because there definitely wasn't two fully grown men where two animals should be. His hands trembled, and the bowl and bottled he'd been holding fell out of his grasp and clattered to floor.

Startled, he shrank back towards the door. He thought he heard the British man swear again, but the sounds were merging together and it was far too much for him. He fumbled for the door and fled.

   The staff bathroom was where Percy had run to. He stood at the sinks, washing his face, trying to calm his erratic breathing.

He still wasn't sure if what he saw was real. Sure, he'd had a few nights of broken sleep, but surely it wasn't enough to be hallucinating. Right? It had to be a hallucination. They wouldn't have caged humans would they? That wasn't right.

"Shit..shit...shit." He mumbled over and over again like a mantra. If they were actually humans, he'd need to release them, but the thing was he didn't trust his own brain. Even though he was the only one in the bathroom, Percy still felt like he was suffocating.

He steadied his breathing. He'd have to back and check, to see if he was hallucinating. But he'd also need a broom. He slipped into the cleaning room to grab what he needed and went back to face the room.

What he hadn't expected was another person in the room now, obviously familiar to the two men. She was undoing the cages, setting them free. So it wasn't an illusion after all.

"Absolutely no need," the British man reassured the woman. "Mr Cat next door, I was in the process of hypnotising him. I was moments away from escape, I don't know why you bothered coming."

Hypnotising? What the hell was going on?

It was then that the British man had noticed his appearance.  "Oh look, the saddle-goose has returned."

The woman turned around sharply and Percy instinctively took a step back, hands raised defensively. He didn't want any trouble. He would just them leave, no questions asked.

"You mean he's seen you?" The woman hissed at the pair. They didn't answer, and she groaned in frustration. "For fucks sake. Really? Really? Honestly..."

The two were free of the cages now and they made their way towards the door. He moved to let them get past him, but the gripped his wrist firmly, dragging him along with them.

Percy yelped, the broomstick falling to the floor. He walked with them? Walked wasn't really the correct word for it, but that was the least of his concern. He was still trying to figure out what was going on, and the panic in his chest was just getting worse.

They stopped suddenly in the corridor where the British man cursed.

"Shit! I've got to free my fellow inmates, I made a gentleman's promise."

Percy knew it would be best not to argue as he was being led outside. There, Percy saw two others; a sweater clad Hispanic man with glasses, who was holding a bike, and a slightly taller man dressed in a warm coat.

"What's your name?" The lady asked him.

"It's Percy. Percy Cooper."

The sound of yelling stopped any sort of introduction as the British man ran past them, cats clung to his back.

"Still no thank you?" Nandor yelled after him, rather crossly.

"Release your claws, you ungrateful bastards!" He heard the British man yell.

The woman  holding onto his wrist turned towards camera people who were stood nearby and gave them an unimpressed look. When the fuck did they get there?

"Gizmo. Walk with him. We will take him back our house." The woman said.

The Hispanic man muttered, "Guillermo," under his breath, but nodded.

"Do not let Colin Robinson drain him." She added before she let of his wrist and promptly turned into a bat. Nandor did the same as Percy could only watch as the bats flew away.

Oh shit. They were vampires.

"It's okay," Colin spoke. "I am full up on energy. They young man at reception was great. You know-"

"Colin." Guillermo said in warning.

"Okay. Okay, I'll stop." He huffed, but kept quiet.

The journey for most of the way there was silent. Percy wasn't sure what to say, and really, what could he say? The panic was only growing more intense. He'd seen vampire movies. They were going going to suck his blood, and then he was going to die.

Guillermo must've sensed the panic because he spoke softly. "It's gonna be okay, just go along with it."

"Okay?!" Percy fretted. "How can it be okay? I'm basically walking to my death here, aren't I? I mean, they're not going to let me go now, are they? Because I've seen them turn into bats and–"

Guillermo turned to Colin, "I won't tell Nadja if you won't."

   The vampires house was rather grand, Percy did have to admit. The towering building above him sent shivers down his spine as he was led into the house and down into the basement. He was unceremoniously dumped into a chair, with five pairs of eyes watching his every move.

"What are we going to do with him?" Nandor asked. His dark eyes flirting with confusion.

"Why don't one of you two fools decide." The woman hissed at him and the British man. "Since you decided to be utter idiots and get yourselves in the mess in the first place."

"My darling Nadja," the British man pleaded. "I'm very sorry that our lovely evening together was cut short. But–" He purred, "I can think of many ways to make it up to you."

Nadja hummed, a smile perking at the corner of her lips. "Hmm yes." She chuckled a few a seconds. "But after you deal with the...human." She finished distastefully.

Percy shifted awkwardly in his seat.

"Can't we just..you know." The British man mimed biting, and he caught a glimpse of his pointed teeth.

"Oh Laszlo," Nandor whined, and it was almost childlike. "You're scaring him."

"I'm hardly scaring him." The British man, Laszlo countered. "And I'm being reasonable right? You can smell it too right?"

Wait smell what?

Nadja nodded. "Absolutely reeks." She smiled wickedly and mouthed 'but delightful.'

Percy shifted again, this time a little more fearful. "Um..." He stuttered, and shrank under their gazes when they turned to him once more. "I'm really not sure what your on about. I mean, you guys have good sense of smell right? So does that mean that you can smell my blood type, because I'm O-positive, and I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure that's the most common blood type, so maybe you'd prefer a more rarer blood type, and y'know, I'll just leave and pretend that none of this has happened, and y'know not die. Because I don't really want to? Can I say that? I mean, I'm not really sure...and I'm crying?"

Percy wasn't sure the tears had started to pour down his face. All he really knew is that he felt so scared. Blood pounded in his ears, his heart pounding in his chest. He looked down to see his hands quivering. He wheezed, gasping and trying to cling on to every last bit of air. Maybe the vampires wouldn't kill him, because his own heart was to give out, or because he couldn't breathe. He was dying. He was dying. Dying. Dying. Dying.

He felt a hand on his knee first. "You're having a panic attack." Guillermo told him. "You're safe though. You're safe and you're going to get through this."

Percy nodded feebly through his tears, unable to string a sentence together.

"I need to you to breathe with me okay. I need you to keep breathing okay." Guillermo moved Percy's hand to his own chest. He took slow deep breaths. "Can you do that for me? Like this?"

Percy shakily tried steady his breathing to match Guillermo's. It took a few minutes, but soon Percy's breathing had slowed. His tears had been reduced to sniffles, his eyes red and puffy.

"You did so well. You're okay." Guillermo gave him a small smile.

Percy smiled back weakly.

"Would you like something to eat? Drink?"

"Water, please." He managed out, voice raspy. He made a point to ignore Laszlo, who visibly bristled at his request.

Guillermo slipped out the room with the promise of returning as quickly as he could. Still, it left Percy in the room with the four vampires. Whilst it still made him a little on edge, the urge to sleep was coming over him.

Nadja took a step towards him. "We're not going to drain you. You're so panicky and sad, that we'd be sick for weeks. Bleugh." She pulled a face.

"Um...thank you?" That was reassuring, wasn't it?

"My darling is quite right." Laszlo nodded. "Far too sad."

"Humans. So emotional. Yeesh." Nandor added.

Thankfully, before the vampires could say anything else, Guillermo had returned, a glass of water in his hands. He passed it to Percy, who took it gratefully. He took slow sips of the water.

"You see, boy." Laszlo started, and Percy immediately looked to his gaze. "We are in need of some assistance, shall we say. We vampires usually have a familiar who assist us in our day-to-day life. Except that we we tragically lost ours," he gestured to himself and Nadja, "in an accident."

Nadja scowled. "We lost him because a bookcase fell on top of him when you wore that stupid cursed hat!"

"Erm, well, yes. Anyway," Laszlo attempted to move on quickly. "So it appears that we are looking for that role to be filled."

"And you think I'm the right choice?" Percy was bewildered. Considering that he'd not long had a panic attack in front of them, he wondered what possibly they saw in him.

"Well you can either agree, and that's that or we can hypnotise you and walk out of here." Nadja hummed.

"But Nadjaaa." Nandor whined. "But he is a virgin." What did that have to do with – Oh.

"Nandor, we are not eating the virgin." She hissed.

"My darling wife, I hate to disagree with you, but Nandor does have a point."

Guillermo sighed. "Percy really is our only option at the moment, considering –"

"Not now, Guillermo." Nandor said, and Guillermo stopped talking.

As Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja bickered amongst one another, Guillermo shot Percy an exasperated look.

Tired of the bickering, Percy spoke up. "I can do it."

The vampires turned to him, clearly stunned.

"Well that settles it." Laszlo commented. "All we need to do now is the ceremony."

He could manage it. He nodded. "What do I need to do?"

Nadja and Laszlo stepped in front of him. "Kneel down in front of us." Nadja instructed gently, as she and her husband, guiding him onto his knees. The resort of the situation had hit him, and he could feel the heat crawling up the back of his neck.

"This won't take too long." Nadja said reassuringly, sensing his nervousness. "This is all just a formality."

Percy nodded.

"Let's begins then." Nadja hummed. She and Laszlo took Percy's hand and raised it closer to them.

The lights dimmed, and a chill in the air swirled around them.

Laszlo spoke, his voice deeper than normal. "Do you, Percy Cooper, swear loyalty to I, Laszlo Cravensworth..."

"And I, Nadja of Antipaxos..."

They looked at him expectantly. "I swear." Percy supplied.

"Do you swear to remain faithful and fulfil your duties as our familiar until you are released from your service, whilst keeping vampirekind a secret to the human world."

"I swear."

"Then I, Nadja of Antipaxos..."

"And I, Laszlo Cravensworth, accept you into our service and swear to one day, if you desire, sire you into a vampire." The couple smiled at each other, before they tuned back to Percy. "Now you kiss our rings."

Percy leant forward, and kissed Laszlo and Nadja's rings respectively.

Nadja clapped her hands together. "And now for the blood oath."

Wait. Blood oath?

That hesitation gave Laszlo more than enough time, as he pulled Percy's wrist to his mouth. He felt his tongue against his pulse before he felt teeth sink into his flesh.

Percy yelped in pain. He'd had blood taken and had donated blood before but the pain was a lot worse. He dared not look as Laszlo sucked blood from his bleeding wrist. Laszlo passed his wrist over to Nadja, who did the same.

His head began to feel heavy, already tired from his earlier panic attack. The last thing he remembered was someone, was it Laszlo? comment on virgin blood before he crumpled at their feet, darkness finally taking a hold of him.

𝙶𝚁𝙴𝚈 𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙰𝙺𝚂

the first chapter is here!! i'm honestly so excited for you to see how percy's story unfolds. tal knows what's going to happen to percy throughout the book and i'm looking forward for you all to see <3

i am loving writing percy and i hope you like him, as i have so much love for him.

admittedly, i am also nervous to write this as percy does suffer with panic attacks and anxiety, and in no way am i trying to romanticise this. please if you are struggling, reach out. you are not alone <3

also they didn't name the lady, i guessed with her name tbh lmao