Dear Journal,
           There is a burning desire in me for blood and I'm afraid that tonight, on the first night of the rest of my life, I am unable to contain it. I am hungry, I am angry and I am undead. I can feel the chaos within me stirring.

               - 𝓔. 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓮
                  (1605)

Seven years.

Elias had been dead for seven years according to the witch who had introduced herself as Odelina. She had counted the days from his burial to tonight's awakening and it took her 2055 days for her to 'get through to him'.

"I have questions," Elias stated. "Why were you buried?"

"Now is not the time for questions such as that, Young Spirit," she continued to dance around him.

"How are you alive?" He asked another.

"Magic!"

"I'm having a monstrous craving for blood," Elias stated as he placed a hand to his temple, his head throbbing with pain. "This was a mistake."

"The only mistake that was made here, Young Spirit," she stopped to face him, "was burying you on top of me, and that was made by the humans." She smiled evilly, her teeth black with decay.

Her face looked gaunt and deathly pale in the moonlight. Had she not touched him before, he would have thought that she was actually the spirit.

"You must go!" She urged him. "Go feast tonight! And know that by morning, you shall meet your destiny."

"What do you mean?" Elias was confused by her riddles.

She smiled at him once more before skipping off into the forest, cackling loudly. He watched as she disappeared, her entire body becoming a light mist that dispersed into the air.

Elias was now alone in the cemetery. He looked among the graves as he searched hopelessly for Genevieve. It had been seven years since their deaths so there was no doubt in his mind that the spot she had been buried was now overrun with grass and weeds.

He fell to the ground on his knees, his hunger for blood and revenge becoming unbearable. He was having a mental war with himself as he could feel his mind splitting. It was almost as if he was developing a new subconscious. The feeling was indescribable, like the old Elias was forcefully being overthrown from his own mind by a more corrupt version of him.

The sound of music and the smell of life brought him to his feet. It was coming from the direction of the Marewood square. He followed the sound eagerly as he sped through the forest. He also made a mental note to tear apart that cemetery in order to find Genevieve. Part of his anger was dedicated to himself as he strongly believed that he had failed her.

Elias's new body was the embodiment of sublimity. His senses were greatly enhanced as his vision, sense of smell, touch and hearing were incomparable. The darkness of the night was no match for his eyesight as he moved through the forest unhindered. He couldn't wait to see what the world was like in the daylight.

He broke through the edge of the trees and walked along the path to Marewood, the music becoming louder and the smell becoming stronger. As he walked into the town, he noticed a flurry of people dancing and laughing under torch light.

A few people played sweet tunes on their fiddles and flutes while the others danced joyously with their partners. Elias watched as the children ran through the crowds, playing with each other and their hounds.

Pulses were beating rapidly, necks were exposed, blood was pumping through veins and people were alive and well. The night was full of life.

But not for long, Elias thought.

He was ravenous for blood and here right before him was a banquet full of dishes.

His bared fangs ached for something to sink into and that made him sure he could not disobey his appetite any longer.

He sped into the crowd at an abnormal speed, no one noticing as they were all lost in each other's gallivanting.

He thought about grabbing someone but he didn't want to be too bold tonight. He scanned the crowd tentatively, listening to the pulses beat in every direction. He was overwhelmed, his fangs feeling as if they had a mind of their own. Raising his head to the sky, he inhaled deeply, taking in the sickly sweet smell of their lifeblood.

He finally grabbed a lady passing by him, taking her by surprise as he rested his hands on her shoulders. Baring his fangs, he forcefully craned her neck to the side to drink from her, the blood spilling down the commissures of his mouth before she could even scream.

So much for not being bold tonight, he thought.

Her shrieks were stifled by the sound of the music. Nobody noticed as the life was sucked from her and when he had drank his fill, Elias gently placed her on the ground. To Elias, it tasted better than wine cured from the sweetest of grapes. It was flavoursome, it was addictive, it was life-changing and he wanted more.

Elias went from woman to woman, man to man, man to woman and woman to man. It went on like this for a while before people really started to notice the dead bodies piling up around them. The music stopped while Elias was lost in a young girl's neck. The women screamed and the cowards ran at the grisly sight of a monster while Elias withdrew himself from his victim, tossing her aside like a rag doll.

The people of Marewood ran, scurrying for safety as they shouted insults in their terrified frenzy. 

"Monster! Demon! Devil!" was the new tune they began to sing.

Elias laughed at the names they had bestowed upon him. The blood had given him a high, something similar to what ale and wine would give a drunk but minus the cognitive repercussions.

He had never felt more alive.

The more he drank, the more he wanted. He was insatiable and sharp-set. He had not a care in the world as his thoughts became a flurry of waves in his head. This was pleasure. This was euphoria. This was now Elias.

He was not a 'man' as his father had wanted him to be but actually much more than that. He was a god and nothing in this life could change that now.

As he savored in the taste of blood he was struck across the face by a metal object. He didn't even flinch as he looked at the man.

Laughing, he used his sharp fingernails to slit the man's throat, watching as the blood spewed from the wound. Elias's eyes lit up like the night sky as the liquid splashed against his clothing.

Speeding across the square, he blocked the path of a young woman trying to flee to safety. She looked about his age, her blue eyes prickling with fear.

"Such a pretty face," Elias said lowly as he used the back of his right hand to caress her cheeks. As he was about to devour her blood, a familiar voice caused him to stiffen.

"Elias?" Edmund called in disbelief.

Shock had taken over his body, so much so that he let the young woman go as he turned to stare at his former friend.

Edmund was a part of a group of 8 armed men. Each had swords Elias himself had crafted from iron clutched tightly in their hands.

The treason of this action, Elias thought. Using his own weapons against him. It was no surprise that this caused great anger to churned into his blood filled stomach.

"Eli? Is that really you?" Ed reiterated.

"Edmund," Elias said solemnly as if trying out the word for the first time.

They regarded each other, ignoring the other group of men that raised their weapons against him.

"Bu-but how? How are you alive?" Edmund questioned. He had begun to drop his weapon when another man alerted him sternly.

"Do not drop your guards!" He shouted, causing Elias to turn his gaze on him. There was something familiar about the man but he could not quite figure it out.

"This is a monster!" he told them. "I've heard stories about creatures who appear as loved ones. Do not be fooled."

"You're William." Elias stated, finally putting the missing puzzle piece together.

"Be quiet you beast and leave this town!" He shouted, trembling as he held his sword.

Elias had not realized sooner because he was much larger than he had been 7 years ago, his face now adorned with a full beard. He couldn't race Elias to the centre stall in this state even if he tried.

"Elias, why?" Edmund asked his friend, fear seeping into his voice.

Elias was overcome with the emotion of sorrow for a quick moment but it dissipated as the pulsating veins of the nervous men strummed into his mind.

Edmund had been the only one to stand up for him when the knights had come to take his life. Pain, confusion and disbelief had crowded his mind at that time so he did not realize how grateful he was.

Elias tried to approach the men.

"Stay back!" William shouted, stopping Elias in his tracks.

He took a moment to observe his surroundings. Bodies of men and women alike laid lifeless all around them. The distant screams of the townfolk woke up the night as the owls and cicadas could not stop singing.

What had he become? Was his only thought as he looked down at his blood stained garments and hands. What scared him the most was that he did not care that he had done these heinous acts. He was satisfied and if possible, he would have liked to continue.

"I said leave, Beast!" William said charging at the monster. As he swung his sword, Elias hit the weapon from his hand, causing his arm to break.

William shrieked loudly but he did not waver. Using his unbroken arm, he tried to swing at Elias who then proceeded to hit William across the face, decapitating him.

Both the sword and his head plummeted to the ground with a clatter and thud. Elias had only meant to stop him but with his newly acquired strength, his definition of 'gentle' was equivalent to vigorous force.

It had happened so fast that the other men did not have time to process it. They dropped their weapons and ran, bellowing for help from God himself. It was only Edmund that remained but he too had dropped his sword, horrified by the sight before him as he stood frozen in fear and disbelief.

Elias fought the urge to kill his friend. He fought so hard that his fangs ached against the discountenance.

Elias sped behind Edmund, bending a little as he inhaled the scent of his neck. It was much different from the other people he had devoured tonight. He wondered if this was so due to the affection he still had for his friend. It didn't matter now anyway. The aroma Edmund's blood emitted was the epitome of tantalizing and it made Elias's fanged mouth water.

"Forgive me," he whispered to him, "but I'm afraid the scent of a loved one is much too enchanting."

With that, Elias dived in, confirming his hunch by dining on Edmund's blood. It was different. Sweeter and more palatable. It was like ichor even though these humans were far from being a godhead.

Edmund's body tumbled to the ground as the vampire finished. Elias used his index finger to wipe the blood running down his mouth and sucked on it, moaning with satisfaction.

This one action had sparked a massacre as Elias wreaked havoc through the night. He slaughtered any and everyone. Those saved were the ones who had managed to get inside their home quickly enough. Elias had found that he could not enter their houses however.

He killed and he drank, he laughed and he raged. He tore through the people like pieces of paper. The tavern was the bloodiest. Those drunken men who had kept him awake those nights were all brutally dismembered. They could have hidden in time before Elias had arrived there but they were not present in the square to know that a monster was afoot.

He discovered that his old home had turned into an ale cellar. Everything he and Genevieve had owned were gone and that made him even more angry.

Soon, the once lively town of Marewood was deathly quiet. Elias had stolen clothes from a man he had killed and he now donned a white ruffled jabot and a red jacquard overcoat along with the man's thick black boots and trousers. He must have been wealthy as Elias had never seen anyone wearing clothing of this quality in Marewood before.

At the break of day, Elias sped out of the square and back through the forest, away from the carnage.

He took the long route to the next town over, but stopped before entering, his senses telling him to divert off the track.

Walking through a field of thick grass, his heightened senses could still hear the people of Marewood scream.

His new found power gave him the ability to locate the exact location of the rooster that had just crowed and sense all of the crickets and grasshoppers chirping around him.

It wasn't long until Elias heard the crackling of a fire, to which he sped off towards the sound, hiding behind a tree a little distance from the culprit.

Even though the person wore a cloak Elias could tell it was a woman. His new sense of smell could now easily discern between male and female, though, this was also thanks to his recent experiences of the night.

Slowly, he approached her, eager for another meal. The woman froze as she sensed his presence behind her, dropping the small branch she used to poke the firewood.

Quickly, she stood, spinning around as she pointed a small dagger at him. The way it glistened in the fire's light told Elias that it was silver but that was not the only shock he suffered while staring at the woman.

This was the same beautiful lady that had stolen from his stall 7 years ago. A princess, the knights had called her. A princess, the knights had killed him for.

As he recalled Odelina's words to him at the beginning of the night, the sun began to rise from its bed.

"By morning, you shall meet your destiny."