Isabela looked around the small, dark home that Akuppi-Adad led her to. She ran her fingers along one of the table tops only to pull it back and have her hand coated in dust. He really needs to manage this place better, Isabela commented in her mind.

"So, how old are you?" Akuppi-Adad asked.

"Nineteen…" Isabela answered.

"Oh! I thought you were a kid… I was going to ask why your parents let you leave the castle by yourself…" Akuppi-Adad chuckled.

Akuppi-Adad continued to lead her on until the two reached a tattered, falling apart chair. "Please, sit down. Sit down," the vampire insisted.

Isabela didn't do as she was told right away.

"You know I'd feel like a terrible host if you didn't sit," Akuppi-Adad said.

Isabela hesitated before doing what she was told; the chair made a creaking noise when she sat down. Isabela fidgeted with her own hands.

“So…" the vampire began. "What can I do for you?”

“As I told you, I’m dying…and the only way for me to survive is if you turn me into whatever you are,” Isabela said, gesturing to Akuppi-Adad.

"Oh." Akuppi-Adad exhaled. He looked like he was thinking for a second before asking, "Are you perhaps of noble blood?"

Is he changing the topic?, Isabela internally questioned herself. “King Beniamin Vaduva is my father,” Isabela answered Akuppi-Adad's question.

“I knew it." Akuppi-Adad stopped for a moment and then in a low voice he murmured, “Why do royalty always only care about themselves?”

“Hello! I’m dying over here!” Isabela waved her hand in Akuppi-Adad's face in an attempt to bring him back into reality.

“Yes, yes. I know. You want to be turned into a vampire,” Akuppi-Adad started, sounding very irritated.

“I never said I wanted to!” Isabela protested.

"Well, if you don't want to, then be gone with you." Akuppi-Adad waved his hand at Isabela.

"No, no. I uhhh…" Isabela trailed off. "There's no cure for the plague… besides this."

Akuppi-Adad rolled his red eyes, angrily.

Isabela raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to help me, do you?"

Akuppi-Adad said nothing in response, but that was enough for Isabela to figure out her answer.

"So, I go out of my way to seek you out and you don't even wanna help me? Why?" She questioned.

"Because of that…" Akuppi-Adad chuckled, angrily. "Your royal status…"

Isabela pulled a face. "What's wrong with that-"

"I'll tell you what," Akuppi-Adad snapped. "You royals think you can sit around on your thrones of gold, drinking your lavish wines, whilst all of your hard working peasants die. You don't care. Why should you? You're royal. Your blood is all that matters. Not anyone else below you in the social pyramid!" Akuppi-Adad's voice grew harsher and louder by the minute.

Isabela bunched herself up, to make herself small. She hid herself within the cloak she had on. Her eyes began to water as she whimpered, "Please don't hit me."

Akuppi-Adad hadn't even noticed that he had made one of his hands into a fist—-he unclenched it, relaxing his soldiers. He exhaled, bringing the tone of his voice back down again. "But… who am I kidding? You're just out of childhood yourself." He couldn't meet Isabela's gaze—-he found his eyes directly on the floor below him. "You're young. You should have your whole life ahead of you."

Silence filled the house for several moments—-no one dared speak.

Akuppi-Adad pushed forward a little. "Come on," he beckoned in a softer voice.

"A-are you sure?" Isabela's voice wavered.

Akuppi-Adad nodded. "Yes."

Isabela stood up and approached him. She sniffled.

"This might hurt a bit," Akuppi-Adad told her truthfully before biting down on her neck.

Isabela forced her eyes shut.

After a few moments, the pressure released.

Isabela opened her eyes.

Akuppi-Adad gagged. "Plague blood tastes terrible." He coughed. He inhaled before raising his wrist, to which he bit into, allowing dark blood to gush out.
“Drink this,” Akuppi-Adad urged.

“Do I need to?" Isabela asked.

Akuppi-Adad nodded once again. "Yes. It's an important part of becoming a vampire."

Isabela hesitated.

"Don't be shy… I don't bite," Akuppi-Adad told her. Then he laughed. "Well… I do. I just won't bite you… not anymore, anyways."

Isabela took a deep breath before gently grabbing Akuppi-Adad's arm. She pressed her lips against the wrist wound—-then she drank.

"You can actually drink from it," Akuppi-Adad informed her. "...not just those little sips you're doing."

After a few minutes had passed, Isabela pulled back. "That's bitter…"

"It's vampire blood," Akuppi-Adad started. "It's going to." He paused before saying, while tilting his head toward a blanket that was on the floor. "Now… get some rest."

“Why?” Isabela questioned.

Akuppi-Adad smiled at her. “We’re going on a trip later.”