Jerrin Bloodlette (Origin Story)

Krist · August 2015

Please, sit. I apologize for entering your home in such a manner. No, do not be frightened, I mean you no harm. I apologize for my appearance, but we shall get to that soon enough. I assure you, you are in no danger from me. Very good, relax. Have some more of your wine. No thank you, I do not par take of wine.
I have come to you because it is I who you sought. You asked who I was. I wish you to know, as I wish others to know as well. Your reputation as a scribe proceeds you, ergo, I would love for you to be my biographer.

(pages missing)

I found out some time in my youth that I was named for my great great grandfather, Jerrin the Bloodletter. This of course brings me to our last name that you questioned. Bloodlette. My father and most of my grandfathers were physicians of sorts. They mixed sorcery with doctoring. It was quite effective, and they were able to heal most ailments, even up to and including many curses. You can imagine what a noble would pay for a sickness that their god refused to heal, or those that served no gods. The name derives from the method. One of the procedures involved blood draining, and replenishing. Not only will I not bore you with the details, it is a family secret that even today I keep. I can assure you it involved nothing nefarious.
As I was growing up in our manor, I remembered looking out over the fields and thinking of how as far as my eyes could see, it was our family dwellings. My father had used very shrewd political methods to insure that our home was kept safe. It did not matter who was in rule, they knew our family had no claim nor wished one. We remained loyal to the empire, and let the emperors worry over rule. As a young man, not yet an adult, ........

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So my marriage with Palina was strong, and our house was in order. Palina would host wonderful parties, keep our place in social standings. She was not, however, of the same mind as most of the upper class. She thought much of how to make life better for the working class. She was something of a physician herself, and would assist the servants and lower class in child birthing and injuries. Of course I did not volunteer much. I kept us in wealth with my talents, the talents of my fathers. She kept us in good standings with all others. She was beautiful, and in a time when time mattered, it stood more still than it does today when I was gaze at her on the balcony, the wind blowing in her dark hair.

I am sorry if I seemed to drift, time slips from me. In my condition, it matters little. I need to finish the tale because I will need to leave before morn, and I shan't return.

(ink is smeared from being wet making the next few pages unreadable)

As Palina and I walked through the apple orchard, in hind sight I can say I heard the wisp of many wings above us. Doves, black birds, I could not tell at the time and it mattered little. Palina was talking to me about how great the party was going, but how pleased she was that we slipped away for a time to ourselves. Even after the years of marriage, we were still as much in love as we were on our wedding night. I was looking into her eyes and barely noticed the stranger walking in the moonlit path. He seemed to almost not notice us at first, then stopped and bowed with a greeting. I offered my own greeting and nod. He spoke to us of pleasantries, and of course we assumed he was a member of the party. He was well spoken, though I did not recognize his accent. Now I think it was because it was from another age, another time.
He came to us as if to introduce himself, but he locked his eyes upon my beautiful Palina. She seemed entranced by him, a strange smile forming on her lips as if she knew him as a friend. I dare say, it seemed at the time, even more intimate than that.

I apologize, I seemed to drift again. Do not be frightened, my demeanor had nothing to do with you. My anger is still toward an ancient enemy, from a time long ago. Please, sit back down.

I caught the man's features in the full moonlight, and understood he was not a man at all. He was pale, a deathly pale. His lips were slightly parted to reveal long teeth. As you can guess, he was vampire. I quickly pulled Palina to me, and covered her eyes. He had ensorcered her, and felt I was of no real danger to him. This of course made him agitated, and he turned that gaze to me. Though I felt his will pushing at my own, I suppose the sorcery running through my own veins was enough to hold him at bay, if even for a moment. My walking stick was filled with magic, a mage's staff if you will. I called upon a fire ball to blast him to Oblivion. He was too fast, and I missed, setting a tree on fire instead. Before I knew it, he had circled me and shoved me to the ground. The force of his blow knocked the wind from me, and the fall disoriented me as my head struck the ground. I was dazed for only a moment. I saw him holding my Palina in his arms, she was awake yet did not move. I saw horror in her eyes, yet she could not scream. He had ripped the front of her ball dress opened, exposing her, and bit her neck. I could see the blood running down to her chest. I pulled myself up with every bit of strength I had left in me, and rushed to him. I struck a blow to his head, empowered by the magic in my walking stick. The blow must have harmed him because he quickly turned into a mist and moved away. I could not see him, and thought he must have fled.
Palina was sobbing now, and holding on to me. I covered her nakedness with my coat, and held her to me, while I covered the two puncture wounds to her neck. I know not what I thought that would help, but the .....

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So we had her locked up. My dear dear Palina, a blood cursed. She was lucid only hours after feeding, almost seeming herself again, but it was fleeting. Even then she remained hungered, and would tell me how she wished to drink blood. I would have offered my own, but of course I could not do that.
The servants began to leave us. Of course they did. They knew quickly why so many were missing. They knew what Palina had become. Men came to release her from her curse, meaning to kill her. I refused them and sent them on their way. Some by force if necessary. I had to hire mercenaries to keep people away, even while I spent my nights with Palina.
This went on for months, until Palina lost all sense of who she was. She was only in some control around me, unable to feed off of me, her love, and once lover. Till a time when she was no longer Palina. She was a monster.

My own mind had began to lose the senses of love, though desire still remained. I felt no kinship to humanity, only to my Palina, and now, not even to her. I left the manor one night, and never returned. As I was leaving I noticed what poor shape it was all in. The fields were either over grown, or dust. Someone must have salted some of the fields thinking it would destroy the evil within the manor. It of course did not.

So I remain. A traveler through time, cursed by Molag Bal, or whatever evil god that brought that monster to the apple orchid. I still remember the sobs of my dear Palina that night, even as her humanity was leaving her and the curse was taking over. I remember the vampire's presence being felt even before I saw him return. I remember his cold hands wrap about my body from behind, in an embrace that I could not break. Palina, once again in deep horror, as the teeth sunk into my own neck. My humanity being drained away.

I see by the candles our time is running out. I will leave you with this. I have regained much fortune, but I shall never regain my humanity. I have tried the cures, but they seem not to work. One servant of Meridia said it is because I am not ready to release my curse. He feared I blamed myself, and unlike most of his kind, seemed to feel sorrow for me. As a show of mercy, I insured he was drained completely of his own blood, and would not return to this curse. I have kept my secret well, always moving, always changing. There are few who know my real name, so no, your writing shall not unveil me.
Maybe this will help people understand, we are not all monsters. We are simply no longer human. Your human ideas of right and wrong are only a fleeting memory. We desire, we crave, we will things, we are happy, we are depressed. We even love, in our own way. It is simply different.

With that, the vampire was gone. I as the writer cannot tell you that anything he said was true. I was able to find some vague references to some Bloodlette family, but unable to find Jerrin. It is just as likely that he found the same tome as I, and made up his story based on it. I can tell you that he was vampire, and that I did sense a deep loss from him. While he may or may not have embellished the name, this scribe can tell you that his story was very real to him.

(name of the scribe is smeared)

Archaole · August 2015

I enjoyed this. Thank you for posting

Krist · August 2015

Thank you for the reply. I try to tell myself that I write for me, and try not to worry how it is received. However, I must confess, it does me good to know that someone else enjoyed the story that was picking to get out of my brain.

Thanks again.

Sean

makeyurself · September 2015

You, are a natural. Really great flow, totally immersive and super interesting!