NOVEL NEXT Three days have passed since the Cardinal named Raul Carlos took me into his hands.
“It’s fascinating. The physical structure is astonishingly similar to that of a human. It seems that rather than the body itself, the essence of what makes a being a vampire lies in the blood.”
After extracting countless vials of my blood and examining my body with mysterious tools for the past three days, Raul reached his conclusion.
Under normal circumstances, I would have found this story intriguing. For someone like me, who wanted to be human, the fact that my body was not so different from a human’s would have been a glimmer of hope.
Yeah, it should have been.
But at least at this moment, I had no interest in Raul’s words.
What does it matter how the body is structured or what the blood is like?
No matter the cause, the conclusion is that I am a vampire.
It means I am not human. They have no intention of letting me go from here.
More than that, just let me go. Just give me a little rest.
I had been confined to a wall, tied up with my arms and legs, without food or water for nearly a week.
That week was nothing but talk of food and water meant for humans, and the last time I had quenched my thirst was the first and last time at the slaughterhouse, so it was likely that it had been a whole month since I had any blood.
The burning thirst gnawed at my sanity more and more as time passed. I found myself subliminally drooling at the delicious scent even in front of Raul, who was interrogating me.
But even in such a situation, was there a lingering desire to hold on to my humanity? I couldn’t bring myself to ask for blood.
I knew it was a senseless stubbornness. I also knew that nothing would change by doing so.
Yet the desire to remain human was the last shred of my identity. Asking for blood felt like admitting that I was the monster they said I was, and I hated that.
But how long could I hold on? I was still somehow enduring, but it wasn’t necessary to mention that my resolve was wavering more day by day.
If a little more time passes or if I were to see blood directly, would I really be able to hold on? I had no confidence in myself.
“Hmm. There isn’t much information I can obtain in a dormant state. The research will only proceed once the Progenitor’s blood is awakened.”
Fighting against the burning thirst, my dulled brain couldn’t immediately grasp the meaning of Raul’s words. But as soon as Raul left the room and returned, I sensed that something was wrong.
“Drink.”
It resembled more of a coffin than a cup. It appeared more suited for forcing its contents down someone’s throat than for the comfort of the one drinking.
The contents of the opaque container connected to the coffin were unseen, but the vampire’s sense of smell led me to the answer.
A chilling and violent scent that made me feel like I would involuntarily get intoxicated.
That was blood. Not just any blood, but real human blood, unlike the animal blood I had used as a substitute.
The words I had heard just moments ago echoed in my mind again.
Awakening as a vampire. Human blood.
The pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
“N-no! I can’t! Not that!!!”
“Such noble pretenses for a vampire. Though, considering you’ve never tasted human blood before, it’s no surprise. However, little Progenitor, how long do you think you can keep that up?”
“Stop! No— Guh!”
A coffin was shoved down my throat.
Even if I tried to push it out with my tongue, it didn’t budge an inch. I fought back desperately, but my arms and legs, as well as my head, were restrained, making my struggles futile.
I don’t want to. I don’t want to drink human blood.
Please, don’t do this. No, stop! Please!!!!
The sticky liquid from the coffin flowed down my throat.
The sweet scent of blood filled my mouth. An intense pleasure I had never experienced in either my past or present sent shivers through my brain.
But it was pushed so deep that I could barely taste it, having merely been shoved down my throat.
Yet even the lingering aftertaste alone was nothing short of murderous. It was nothing compared to animal blood. After tasting it, I realized that even that was nothing more than a substitute.
The tension in my whole body melted away, and overwhelming satisfaction seeped in.
If this was honey, then animal blood was merely muddy water, and if this was the royal banquet’s finest delicacies, then animal blood should hardly even be compared to tree bark.
After having that one taste, I could no longer even remember what the other food I had eaten until now tasted like. If this was true gourmet food, then it felt almost shameful to lump everything else I had consumed into the same category of meals.
“Ah….”
The empty coffin withdrew from my mouth, and a sweet sigh slipped out from somewhere.
The amount wasn’t very much. What a pity.
Feeling regretful about letting it go just like that, I stretched my tongue to lick the edge of the coffin that was slipping away from my mouth. Looking at the coffin fading away made me feel quite forlorn.
“Hehe. See? That was a nice expression you had.”
Raul’s delighted expression caught my eye. What’s so amusing about giving me just a morsel of food—
Ah.
“Such a precious moment that I can’t keep to myself. Look at the face you’re making.”
Ah.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
When Raul held up a hand mirror from his desk in front of me, I saw a silver-haired woman with a rapturous expression sighing back at me.
Her dreamy eyes appeared as though she was lost in a trance.
Her lips were parted in an ungraceful manner.
The tongue that licked her lips and the shadow surrounding her eyes created a lewd atmosphere, and her face, soaked in the afterglow, exuded a bewitching allure.
Although her tangled hair and signs of hardship showed here and there, such minor details couldn’t diminish her dreamlike charm; her face was one that anyone passing by would find irresistible.
Beautiful. If it weren’t for the fact that this was the reaction of someone who had drunk human blood—no, a vampire—then surely it would be.
“No….”
A monster intoxicated by human blood.
That was me.
Despite all my desires to hold onto my identity as a human or to say that my heart still remained human, the moment I tasted human blood, I lost my sanity and became a crazed woman.
As soon as I realized that, the reflection of the woman in the mirror darkened with despair.
Her bright yellow eyes lost their golden hue. The fading golden color mocked me.
And I learned that despair was vividly red.
“Oh! To witness the moment the Progenitor awakens with my own eyes!! There won’t be another person alive who sees this moment, even if you delve into history!! I am witnessing a scene from a myth!!!!”
The warm yellow eyes turned crimson. The traces of humanity gradually vanished, replaced by a chilling shade of red.
Even my desperate self-denial could not halt my transformation. Before I knew it, the blood-red eyes of a typical vampire were staring back at me from the mirror.
The blood-red despair mocked me.
“Nooooooo!”
My last bit of identity that I had desperately held on to.
Though my body was a vampire, the part of me that wished to be human was a proof that I was different from other vampires.
In a mere instant, all of it vanished.
Just like that, so effortlessly.
“Now then, shall we compare performance?”
Suddenly, something silver glinted.
“AAAAAHHHHHH!”
The knife that had cut open my arm on the first day once again unceremoniously slashed my arm.
It hurts. It hurts. Why are you doing this to me? You’ve already taken my last bit of pride, so why do you keep hurting me?
“Oh… so you really are a Progenitor. Just awakening gives you remarkable regeneration.”
Raul’s words, revealed without compunction, as he displayed his joy, made me helplessly gaze at my arm.
The same wound as on the first day. But unlike that time, the fresh wound was already almost healed, and even now, it was healing right before my eyes. Looking back, the previous wound no longer existed.
In just about ten seconds, the injury completely disappeared.
It was an unreal sight. The pain of my flesh being torn and the intense burning remained, yet the arm that had just gushed blood was now unscathed.
“Good. Very good. Now, dear little Progenitor. There is no need for restraint any longer, so let’s begin unearthing the secrets of vampires.”
Sss—
My left pinky finger was severed.
“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!! It hurts!!!! A-Ah!”
“At this stage, screams are unnecessary; I shall block them for now.”
Sss—
My right pinky finger was severed.
It hurts. It hurt so much. The sudden pain was overwhelming.
In terms of magnitude, the pain I had experienced before I died in my past life was far greater, but this time, I had no painkillers, and most importantly, my current body was several times more sensitive than my dying body in the past, and I still didn’t have any tolerance to pain.
I felt like I would faint at any moment, but I couldn’t take my eyes away. Closing my eyes felt like predicting more unexpected pain would come crashing down on me.
It was unbearable pain, yet the fingers cut down to the bone began to grow back as if it were a lie.
A red mass of flesh began to form the shape of the finger, bonding with the bone and muscle within. Once the skin completely healed, the new fingers appeared white and fluffy, contrasting sharply with the bloodied side of my hand.
“Left pinky: 46 seconds. Right pinky: 46 seconds. There is a slight difference, but they are nearly identical within the margin of error.”
…So, you cut off my fingers just to measure the regeneration time? Is that the only reason??? Crazy—
Sss—
This time, both of my ring fingers were severed.
“Left: 1 minute 3 seconds. Right: 1 minute 5 seconds. Hmm, did I cut down too far to the root? Or is there a variance?”
Next, it was the middle fingers.
“Left: 1 minute 10 seconds. Right: 1 minute 10 seconds. It was my mistake. I’ll need to ensure precision when comparing the left and right.”
It hurts so much. It’s insane. That’s not human. No human would do such a thing.
“Your expression says, ‘How could a human do such a thing?’”
As if reading my mind, Raul answered with a smile. For the first time, I realized that a smile could also be chilling.
“There were others among the vampires who had passed through my hands that had that same expression. Ignorant of their position.”
Know your place.
“You are wrong. I’m a human, and you’re a monster, so you can do whatever you want.”
It’s not the humans that are wrong.
“Little Progenitor, please do your best not to break down for as long as possible. The information I acquire from you will one day become a beacon of hope for humanity, slaying the detestable vampires.”
It’s your kind that was born as monsters.
“I promise to cleanly execute you once your role is complete. So please do stay alive.”
Such pure malice and absurdity gouged into me like a blade. It felt as though something in my chest was crumbling down.
That day, my screams, muffled into silence, didn’t stop until every single finger and toe had been cut off, and my wrists and ankles were severed whole once again.