This story is the beginning of The Tales of Vampires. This story won't be for everyone and I know that. This story contains scenes of homosexuality. If you are offended by this type of material or it is not legal for you to read such material in your place of residence please leave now. For all others the story is below.
Copyright © 2025 by Julien Gregg
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact the author by email. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
One
Bradly Fell woke up staring at the dormers of the roof of the house his father built. Next to him was his brother Jed. Across from them was their sister Anna. It was another day and there were cows to milk, stalls to muck, and chickens to feed. Bradley nudged his brother and started to get up. Anna was already gone form her bed. No doubt she was feeding the chickens.
Bradly washed his face with the water from the bowl and dried with a hand towel made by his mother. Then he climbed down the ladder and into the kitchen of the house. His mother was making breakfast for him and his brother. His father was already outside fixing a fence in the pasture.
“Good morning,” his mother said as he came down the ladder.
“Good morning, Ma,” he said. “Jed’s getting up.”
“That’s to the good,” she said. “Your father has been out there since first light.”
“I’ll help him with the fence,” he said.
“You will do your chores,” she said. “Your father is quite capable of fixing a fallen fence.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said as he sat at the table. Jed came down the ladder next.
“Where’s Pa?” he asked.
“He’s fixing the fence down by the lake,” Bradly said.
“Where’s Anna?” Jed asked.
“Probably feeding the chickens,” Bradly said.
“That’s exactly what she’s doing,” said their mother. “Now you two eat your breakfast and get on those cows. They won’t milk themselves and I want to churn butter today.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they said at the same time.
Bradly was thinking about the poker game he’d been a part of the night before. He still had his winnings in his box upstairs. He had a whole three dollars. That was a good haul. He was planning to join the game tomorrow night as well.
Bradly was good at poker. He cheated a bit with his extra sense but no one needed to know that he could see a couple of minutes into the future. He was trying to help his father and this was his way of helping. His best friend, Charlie Morrison went to each of the games with him. He held his own but he wasn’t a winner like Bradly. Bradly wasn’t always allowed to join the game. Many didn’t want to play with him because he usually won.
He wasn’t stupid. He didn’t win every hand. He lost a few now and then to make it seem like everything was normal. James Donner usually fell for it. James was hosting the poker game tomorrow night and he always let Bradly play. So Bradly was banking on winning some more money tomorrow night.
“What are you so quiet about this morning?” Jed asked him as he ate.
“Poker,” he said quietly. His mother didn’t like that he played poker.
“You gonna play in the game tomorrow night?” Jed asked.
“Yeah, James is hosting,” he said. “I’ll play.”
“Well be careful,” Jed said. “I’ve had a dream.”
“What did you dream?” Bradly asked. He was always leery of his brother’s prophetic dreams.
“I dreamed of trouble for you soon,” Jed said. “I saw you leaving town.”
“Leaving town?” Bradly said. “First of all we live on a farm and not in a town. Second I wouldn’t leave you and Pa hanging like that.”
“You don’t leave us hanging,” Jed said. “You leave for your life.”
“That isn’t likely to happen,” he said. “Who would threaten my life?”
“I didn’t see that,” Jed said. “Just that you were leaving on your horse with a bedroll and riding into the night.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Bradly promised. He wondered who else was going to play poker.
“Get to eating,” his mother said.
They were silent as they ate after that. They washed up after giving the dishes to their mother. Then they went outside to the barn with barrels and started to milk the cows. They were at it for a long time. It was lunch time when they had milked the last of the four milk cows. Then they were inside again eating part of last night’s supper for lunch. Ma was baking for tonight’s supper. Pa was in the house with them now. The fence was fixed or he wouldn’t be in there with them.
“Bradly your brother has had a dream,” Pa said.
“He told me, Pa,” Bradly said, wondering what his father thought of the dream. He could see further into the future than Bradly could. Had he seen something?
“He sees you running for your life in the night,” he said. “I’ve looked into the future and I see the same thing.”
“So I’ll be running for my life soon?” Bradly asked.
“There’s something troubling about this vision,” his father said. “You are leaving and your friend Charlie is waving to you as you go.
“Charlie isn’t going with me then?” he asked.
“It doesn’t appear so,” his father said.
“It’s this poker,” his mother said as she slammed a dish into her bucket. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Poker is a dangerous game. It turns ordinary men into complete scoundrels and poor men into fools.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“But you’ll play the game anyway,” she said bitterly.
“I have to help out,” he said.
“So find another way to help,” she said. “You don’t have to risk your life on that game to put a few dollars in your father’s pouch.”
“Hattie leave the boy alone,” said Pa. “He’s going to do it I’ve already seen the aftermath.”
“And I’m supposed to just accept that my sixteen year old son is running for his life when he should be thinking of settling down with a good woman on a farm of his own?”
“Hattie,” his father warned.
“Fine,” she said. “So soon he’ll be running for his life.”
“Hattie, now I mean it,” Pa said. “Bradly has been helping the family with his winnings from those card games. Now he’s the one that got you that prized milk cow, and he’s the reason we could build the blasted fence in the first place to keep the cows that we own on our own land.”
“But it’s dangerous,” she said. “You saw it yourself.”
“Hattie I’ve said all I’m going to say on the matter,” Pa said.
“Fine,” she said. She went back to churning her butter.
She had a pitcher full of buttermilk and was using it to make biscuits for supper that night. After lunch Brad and Jed went to muck the stalls and place new hay into the stalls for the cows to munch on. They worked through the day and got very hot. They had a pitcher of cool water and a basin to pour into so they can cool off. When they were finally done they boiled water to pour in the tub outside to take baths. This took a few hours and when they were done with their baths they had to go inside to dress and sit down for supper.
“What time is your game tomorrow?” Pa asked as they sat down to dinner.
“After dinner,” he said.
After dinner that night he went out to brush his horse. He did this whenever he had a falling out with either parent. He brushed his horse down and checked his shoes. If they had to run for his life then he had to make sure the animal was up for the task.
"Bradly are you all right?” his father asked as he came into the barn.
“Just taking care of the horse,” he said.
“Checking him over to make sure he’s up for the ride?” his father asked.
“That’s exactly right,” he said. “I hate leaving you and Jed high and dry with the farm.”
“You’re not leaving us high and dry,” his father said. “In the normal scheme of things you’d be marrying and moving to your own farm soon.”
“Instead I’m tucking tail and leaving the farm,” he said.
“I’d rather you be out in the world and alive, Son,” his father said.
“I hear you,” he said. “It just feels all wrong. Like if Jed hadn’t had the dream and you hadn’t looked into my future none of this would be happening.”
“The only thing that would have happened different is that you wouldn’t have the warning,” said his father.
“Yeah,” Bradly agreed. “Well this horse will be all right.”
“Of course he will,” his father said. “We shoed him not long ago, and he’s been run a time or two.”
"Yeah,” Bradly said.
“He’ll make the run just fine,” said his father. “You ride to Carson City. I reckon that’s far enough.”
“Yes, Sir,” he said.
“Maybe you can come back in a few months and marry April,” he said. “The Hopkins farm is for sale. You always liked Bob Hopkins’s house.”
“I do like his house,” Bradly said. “Hopefully I can come back.”
“Just let it all die down,” his father said.
“I will, Pa,” he said.
“All right then,” his father said. “Get in there and get to bed, Bradly.”
“Yes, Sir,” he said and patted the horse.
He went inside and climbed up the ladder to the loft. Jed was sitting up in his bed waiting for him. He stripped down to his underwear and put on his night shirt. He crawled into bed and covered himself with a sigh.
“I’m going to miss you when you’re gone,” Jed said. He’d been waiting for him to have this conversation.
“I’ll miss you, too,” he said.
“I wish things were different,” Jed said. “Maybe you could just stay home tomorrow.”
“James and Charlie are expecting me to be at the game,” Bradly said.
“I know there’s no changing it,” said Jed. “That’s what makes it worse. These things I dream are the future and it’s already set in motion by the time I have the dream. It’s like you and Pa with your looks into the future.”
“I know,” Bradly said. “Jed I’m sorry for leaving you and Pa with the farm. I’m going to miss all of you something awful.”
“I know you will,” Jed said. “It just feels like I should say something meaningful.”
“I feel the same way but I got nothing but I love you guys,” Bradly said.
“We love you, too,” Jed said. “Please know that. I know we don’t always get along but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t really loved having you for a brother.”
“I love having you for a brother too,” Bradly said. He meant it too.
“Well goodnight I guess,” Jed said. Then he reached over and hugged him. Bradly hugged back.
“Good night little brother,” Bradly said when the embrace ended.
He lay down and really thought about how much he’d miss them all, even his mother’s nagging. He’d miss all of it. But he had to go. Pa and Jed had seen the same thing. It meant that it was really going to happen. He had to play the game and he had to step into danger. There was no other way. That was his last thought before he went to sleep.
His mother made his favorite breakfast of blueberry pancakes for breakfast. She’d grown the blueberries herself on bushes on the side of the house that got the most sun. She grew them just for him because he loved them so. This breakfast nearly made him lose his grip on himself. He nearly wept.
“Good morning,” Ma said with a shaking voice. She put a hand on his shoulder when he sat at the table.
She put a plate with six pancakes in front of him and handed him her own syrup. She made that as well. She’d turn the rest of the blueberries into jam. He put his hand over hers and squeezed. She squeezed his shoulder and then let go.
He ate his breakfast and each bite made him want to cry. She was doing this because he was leaving and this was her way of acknowledging that. He ate every bite though he was full after about half of it.
He and Jed went to milk the cows and muck the stalls. He wouldn’t milk the rest of the day. His father had already told him that. Instead he’d walk the pasture with his father checking the fence.
When they were done they washed up for lunch. They had last night’s supper for lunch today and he loved it once again. His mother had tears in her eyes as she watched him eat. Then he put his plate and fork in the tub and went back outside to walk the fence with his father.
Hiram gave him helpful instruction. He told him about a boarding house in Carson City where he could stay for twenty-five cents per night. He told him to stay away from the games in the saloons if he could, to be respectful to others, and try not to get into any trouble in the city. He knew that Bradly would make his money by gambling but he wanted him to be careful.
They walked the fence and found nothing wrong with it. They’d gone at a leisurely pace and got back just in time for dinner. His mother was just about ready to put it on the table. She hugged him when he came in.
“Be careful,” his father said. “Don’t win too much.”
“Yes, Sir,” he said. “I always lose a few. Maybe I’ll lose a few more tonight.”
“That’s a plan,” his father said.
“That will be enough of talking about poker at the supper table,” his mother said.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said and his father nodded his head.
Anna began to talk about the dresses she planned to make. Mother and daughter talked endlessly about going to the mercantile to buy fabric for said dresses. Bradley had no interest in this topic so he was quiet.
The biscuits that his mother had made with the buttermilk were amazing. He complimented her on them. She smiled and acknowledged his compliment. She talked about all that she planned to do with the buttermilk left over from her churning. He listened to all that she said about her buttermilk.
When he was finished with his supper he went over and washed his hands and face. Then he climbed the ladder to change clothes and get ready for poker. The house was a modest one-bedroom house with a loft. The kitchen and living room were all one room with a small bedroom beside the kitchen under the loft. The outhouse was just outside of the kitchen far enough away so that the fumes didn’t bother anyone but close enough that on cold winter nights you didn’t freeze while you were trying to do your business. The house was made of logs and on the inside Pa had patched the holes with concrete. The house had withstood a tornado and many storms.
When he was finished dressing he put his three dollars in his pocket and came back downstairs. He hugged his mother and shook his father’s hand. Then he went out and got on his horse. James Donner lived in town. He had a bit of a ride to get there. When he did he went inside and James shook his hand. He told Bradley that two men from Harper’s Mill were coming to the game tonight. Bradly didn’t mind.
James got him a bottle of cider and they sat at the table. They waited for everyone to get there for the game. Charlie showed up next. He had a dollar and fifty cents on him. Bradly knew this because it was what he’d won at the game the night before last.
James was six feet tall with dark, almost black hair and dark eyes. His father owned the mercantile in the town of Woodland and an orchard. They were the wealthiest family in town. James didn’t like to bring that up but he was always squeaky clean and he dressed in nice clothes that the Fell family would never be able to afford. Charlie was like Bradly in second-hand clothes but his were passed down from an older brother and Bradly was wearing his father’s old clothes. Charlie was six feet tall with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. Bradly looked a bit more like James with his dark hair and green eyes but he wasn’t dressed as well as his friend.
The two men from Harper’s Mill showed up. One was dark and the other was blonde much like Bradly and Charlie. They bought chips from James and the card game began. James dealt and Bradly had a pair of aces on the deal. He anted up his quarter and then asked for three cards. Charlie anted and asked for two cards. Bradly looked into the near future and saw that Charlie had a pair of nines, the two from Harper’s Mill had high card king and queen and James had a pair of sixes.
Bradly received his three cards and added another ace to his hand. Charlie added two jacks to his hand. James added a six and the two men from Harper’s Mill got no help. Bradly bet a quarter. James raised him to a dollar. The two men from Harper’s Mill folded. Charlie folded and Bradly called. The first hand was Bradly’s. Play went on.
He had good hands that he folded on and bad hands that he stayed with. Each time he stayed he looked into the future to see what they all had. Then he’d lose a hand here and there and win a few here and there. But when Charlie was out and James was out it was between him and the two men from Harper’s Mill. Bradly looked into the future and saw what they had in their hands. The pot was six dollars by this time and he wanted to win. He got his three cards and saw that he had a full house. He won the pot and pissed off the two men from Harper’s Mill.
The next hand he lost. That made them a bit happier but when the dark haired man from Harper’s Mill put his gold pocket watch on the table Bradly won with three jacks. That pissed the man off royally. The next hand was won by Bradly’s pair of tens. He lost the next two hands but then won a hand that had ten dollars in the pot. They slammed their cards down and asked Bradly if he was born with a golden thumb or something. Bradly said he was just lucky tonight. That seemed to piss them off even more.
By the time they called it quits the men from Harper’s Mill were very angry. Bradly now had forty dollars, a gold watch, and a wagon. He told them he wasn’t taking the wagon from them. That didn’t make them any happier. The blonde man pulled a gun and pointed it at Bradly.
“You cheated,” he said.
“Here now,” said James. “Put that away. Bradly wins a lot but he doesn’t cheat. I was dealing.”
The man pointed the gun at James and said, “So you helped him cheat.”
“I’m telling you there was no cheating,” James said. “Why would I invite you into my home and then help a friend cheat to take your money and your wagon?”
“I don’t know but nobody is that damned lucky,” said the blonde. “If I see either of you later tonight I’ll kill you.”
“Hell I’ll find you and kill you if I feel like it,” the dark haired man said.
They left and James told Bradly to get straight home and to lock his door. Bradly went home but he ran into the dark haired man who told him he had tonight to get out of the area or he’d kill his entire family. Bradly went straight home and packed his bedroll with some clothes and a little bit of food that his father handed him. The man knew that Bradly had to go.
Bradly tried to give him half of his winnings but Hiram wouldn’t take the money. He told him that he’d need it in his travels. His father warned him to be careful and told him that he loved him. The two men hugged for a bit and then Charlie showed up. He told Bradly that the dark haired man was looking for him. His name was Harvey Plat.
“He said he’d find you and gun down your whole family,” Charlie said. “He called you a cheater and said he’d get his money and his pocket watch from you before he killed you.”
“I’m leaving,” Bradly said. “Watch out for yourself and please help my pa with the farm. Jed can’t do all the work himself.”
“I’ll help out,” Charlie said. “Just go.”
“I’m going,” he said and got on his horse.
He rode off with Charlie waving goodbye to him just as his brother dreamed. Now he was on his own and he wasn’t happy about it. Sure he could have married April Townsend and bought a farm with his winnings and raised some kids but he wasn’t ready to do that. He wasn’t ready to be the man he knew that everyone wanted him to be. He was content to help his father on the farm. Now he’d been forced to leave the farm and go out on his own. He wasn’t marrying April and having a couple of kids. He was running for his life.
He rode around the town and straight up the dirt road. He rode until the horse was tired and he was falling asleep on it’s back. He found a pond and let the horse drink his fill then he tied the horse to a fallen tree, unrolled his bedroll and got some much needed sleep. He slept through the morning and into the hot part of the day. He woke up sweaty and in need of a bath. He stripped naked and got his bar of soap. He waded into the pond and washed his body. He dried off with his blanket and then dressed in the clothes he had packed.
He was back on the horse after having some of the meat and cheese his father had given him. He checked his money pouch and saw that no one had stolen it while he slept and then rode on. He made it to Carson City three days and a lot of hard road later. He found the boarding house his father told him about and paid fifty cents for a room for two nights that he had to share with another man. That was fine with Bradly he was so excited for a bath and a bed that he paid the fifty cents for two nights in the boarding house.
He went up to the bathroom that was in the building. He ran water in a steal tub and bathed. He scrubbed his dust packed body and washed his hair. Then he dried off and put on his least dirty clothes. He went into the room he’d rented and fell onto the bed and slept the sleep of angels. When he woke up there was a dark haired man with the lightest blue eyes he’d ever seen looking at him.
“You slept most of the day,” the stranger said. “You been on the road long?”
“About a week,” he said. “Name’s Bradly Fell.”
“Jason Dean,” said the stranger. “I come from Dawn's Light up near Oak Push.”
“I come from further south,” he said.
“Well seeing as you’re my new best friend I should tell you that your clothes smell,” said Jason.
“Thanks,” he said. “I don’t have clean clothes to wear right now.”
“Well if you have any money they sell clothes across the street,” Jason said. “After supper I’d say we go across the street and see what they have for you.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Bradly said. He was looking forward to that meal.
They ate in the dining room and Bradly noticed that the other boarders turned their noses away from him. He supposed his clothes did reek. He was sorry for them but too hungry to do anything about it. He was served meat and potatoes with biscuits and a spot of gravy.
Then when they were finished and had drank coffee they went across the street. The place was called Evan Porter’s House of Menswear. The man behind the counter smelled Bradly as soon as he came through the door. He helped them find two suits that were a bit better looking than Bradly had ever worn in his life. He even bought a pair of shoes. It cost him a few dollars but he was glad to part with the money for clean clothes. He changed into one of the suits and put his clothes in the paper bag that the clerk gave him.
“You wouldn’t be interested in a poker game would you?” asked James.
“I love Poker,” Bradly said after a moment of panic. “Where’s the game?”
“In the saloon,” he said. “Follow me.”
The saloon was a large building with a big sign and a man standing just outside the door. He nodded to Bradly and Jason as they made their way inside. The inside was sawdust floors, three poker tables, a long bar with tables and chairs. There was a piano player to the right of the door. He played upbeat music. A man stood behind a barred counter with a cash register behind him. They went to him and bought chips. Then they found a table and sat down. It wasn’t long before they were joined by three men. These men were dressed pretty much as well as Bradley and Jason. They all three had red hair and Bradly wondered if they were related.
They played five card poker and Bradly used his sight to see what everyone had. Just like at home he won a few and lost a few. That night he made seven dollars total and was happy with it. The other men at the table thought nothing of it and he and Bradly had a drink at the bar and then went back to the boarding house.
“I’m going to move to the hotel if I keep winning,” Jason said.
“I thought about the hotel but I didn’t want to spend so much money on a room,” Bradly said.
“You win more than you lose I’d do it if I were you,” Jason said.
“Well we have another night at the boarding house,” Bradly said. “I want to drop off my smelly clothes to have them laundered as well.”
“We can do that in the morning,” Jason said. “I’ll turn in some clothes too. But when we move to the hotel they have a laundry on the premises.”
“Sounds like they have it all,” Bradly said.
“A restaurant, laundry, indoor plumbing and heated water,” Jason said. “I checked when I decided I might move over there.”
"Sounds like an ideal setting,” Bradly said. He’d never been to a place where they had it all in one building.
“Well it’s something to think of,” Jason said as they made it back to the boarding house.
They made it just in time for supper. Tonight they had fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and corn with biscuits again. Bradly ate his fill of that and then retired to his room to add his winnings to his money pouch. He didn’t carry all of his money on him. He wasn’t a fool.
“So tell me about you, Bradly,” Jason said.
“Grew up on a farm helping my dad and brother run it,” he said. “I have a younger brother name of Jed, an older sister name of Anna, and my mother and father. My father built the house with his own hands. We’ve lived there my whole life. I was run out of town by a man from Harper’s Mill who wanted to hunt me down and kill my entire family because I beat him rather hard at poker. That brings me here to today.”
“Damn,” said Jason. “I was thrown out by my folks and told to make something of myself. I come from Dawn’s Light not far from Carson City and I’m making something of myself with poker.”
“Yeah that sounds about right for me too,” said Bradly. “One day I might return home and see what’s what.”
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Jason said. “Write to them and all of that but don’t go backward. You’re in the city now. Live a little.”
And that’s just what he did. They moved to the hotel and got themselves a room there for a small fee. Bradly had his shirts and pants laundered and bought new socks and underclothes. He also bought three more suits to add to his collection. They laundered his clothes and delivered them to his room.
The room was done in browns and dark yellows. There were two bedrooms and a sitting room. A bathroom that blew Bradly’s mind was between the two bedrooms. They became comfortable with each other and played poker just about every night in the saloon. Bradly was making a lot of money. He finally put his money in the bank and became a man of means in the eyes of those in the city.
They ate dinner in the restaurant the first night and that was where they met them. Mary and Tobias were also staying in the hotel and clearly had more money than Jason or Bradly. They were dressed in silk and very expensive clothing. Mary wore jewels the likes of which Bradly had never seen before. They joined them for dinner that night. The pair of them ate very little but kept up a conversation with Bradly and Jason.
They were very good looking people. Mary had long dark hair that she kept up off her neck with little curly strands here and there escaping. Her sapphire eyes were keen and watchful. On her fingers were very valuable rings.
Tobias was a blonde haired man with powerful shoulders and a lean build. His blue eyes were just as keen as Mary’s and he was just as watchful. He wore a silk suit in dark blue with a white silk shirt under the jacket and a billowing light blue tie at his neck.
“I’m in shipping and receiving,” Tobias told them. “Mary is my business partner.”
“A woman in business,” Jason said with a smile. “How modern.”
“Yes,” Mary said, smiling at him. “I do a bit of this and a bit of that.”
“We’re in poker,” Jason said, smiling back at her.
“Poker you say,” Tobias replied. “Why I played a game of poker just last night in this very dining room.”
“You don’t say,” Bradly said interested.
“High stakes game that was,” he said with a smile. “I cleaned the table with them.”
“Perhaps we could get in on this high stakes poker game,” Bradly said.
“Perhaps,” Tobias said, smiling a curious smile at him. “Have you the money?”
“How much are we talking?” Bradley asked.
“A hundred dollar buy in,” Tobias replied.
“I have the money,” Bradley assured him.
"Then we’ll play tonight,” he said. “There are others in the dining room tonight that will play. Are you good?”
“He wins more than he loses,” Jason said, making Tobias smile wider.
Bradly noticed that his canine teeth were a bit more pointed than other men’s. He found him to be completely enthralling which was odd because he’d never found a man enthralling before. He was completely caught up in every movement that Tobias made. He wasn’t even embarrassed by this. It was very odd.
“Well then we shall see how much he can win tonight,” Tobias said. “Mary will you play with us tonight?”
“I’ll watch as always,” she said. “Wouldn’t want to scare the men folk.”
Bradly laughed at this as did Jason. Bradly noticed that Jason was as caught up with Mary as he was with Tobias and wondered what was happening. He’d never had these thoughts about a man before. He was enthralled and intrigued with Tobias in a way that bordered on sexual excitement. Bradly had never had sex in his life. He didn’t know what sexual excitement was really.
They played poker that night and though Bradly was betting most of his winnings from previous nights he held his own for a while. He looked into the future now and then and won hands that he probably shouldn’t have but no one got angry. He won a few more and then folded a few. Tobias continued to smile at him. He noticed that every time he looked into the future Tobias smiled at him. He wondered if he knew what Bradly was doing.
By the end of the night he’d more than doubled his money and Tobias was laughing like a loon at having lost his money. The others nodded to Bradly and left the table. Tobias invited Bradly to his room for a nightcap. Bradly accepted wondering what was going to happen.
Tobias had a room of his own and it was much like the rooms that Bradley shared with Jason. He poured Bradly a brandy and himself a deep red wine. They sat in the sitting room and then Tobias lowered a bombshell on him.
“How long have you been looking into the future?” he asked, making Bradly nearly choke on his brandy.
“What are you talking about?” he asked in evasion.
“I know what you were doing down there,” he said. “I use my tricks and you use yours.”
“What trick do you use?” Bradly asked.
“That’s for you to find out later,” Tobias said. “Yours is that you look into the future. Not far mind you just a few minutes. It’s just enough for you to see what cards everyone will play. It’s a neat trick.”
“I’ve been able to do that all of my life,” he replied. “My father calls it the sight. He has it too but he can see further into the future than I can.”
“What about your brother and sister?” Tobias asked.
“My brother Jed has prophetic dreams and Anna knows the truth of things,” he said.
“Ah witches,” Tobias laughed.
“We’re not witches,” Bradly said quickly.
“But you are,” Tobias said. “It’s what makes you smell so wonderful. You’re a witch, the son of a witch, brother to two more witches. Your mother isn’t like you though.”
“No she’s not,” Bradly replied. “She’s normal.”
“You’re all normal, Bradly,” Tobias said.
“You called me a witch,” Bradly pointed out. “That’s not normal.”
“More normal than you think,” Tobias said.
“Are you and Mary witches?” he asked.
“No, we’re something else,” Tobias said. “If you spend the night here I’ll show you.”
“Spend the night?” Bradly asked.
“Don’t pretend you’re not thinking about it,” Tobias said. “I’ve sensed your interest all night long. Even when you were looking into the future earlier you were still interested in my every movement, every smile.”
“That’s true,” Bradly admitted. “There’s no point in denying it. You obviously read my mind.”
“So you’ve figured out my trick,” Tobias said, showing his pointed canines again as he smiled wide.
He crossed the room and pulled Bradly up from his seat. He took the glass of brandy and set it on the side table. Then he kissed him. Bradly nearly panicked but it felt so right. He kissed him back. He nearly exploded when Tobias’s tongue touched his. He didn’t fight him when he unbuttoned the shirt Bradly was wearing. He didn’t fight him as he slid the shirt down his arms and off of him. He didn’t fight wen Tobias undid his belt or pulled his pants down. He stepped out of them as if he were being undressed by a parent. Then he stood before Tobias naked as the day he was born.
“Now you’re seeing all of me,” he said.
“Not quite,” Tobias said. “Turn for me.”
Bradly turned. He didn’t know why he wad doing this. He was deeply embarrassed to be looked at while naked. Tobias touched him and he jerked in surprise. Tobias told him to settle down. Then he ran his hands all over Bradly’s chest and stomach.
“What are you doing?” Bradly asked him.
“Good, solid muscles,” Tobias said instead of answering him. “You worked hard on that farm.”
“Of course I did,” Bradly said. “Why are you touching me?”
“Do you want me to stop?” Tobias asked, smiling at him.
“No but it’s not fair me being the only one naked,” he said not knowing where those words had come from.
“I can fix that,” Tobias said and took off his clothes. He stood naked before him and Bradly was struck. “Like what you see?”
“I do,” Bradly said, terrified by his brazenness.
“You can touch me if you like,” Tobias said. “In fact I welcome it.”
Bradly touched him noticing that Tobias was all hard packed muscle and soft flesh. He ran his hands up and down his chest and stomach, feeling the muscles underneath them. He breathed in a gasp as his hand bumped Tobias’s erect penis.
“Don’t be afraid,” Tobias said. “You can touch it.”
Bradly didn’t know where the curiosity came from but he wrapped his hand around Tobias’s erection and squeezed lightly, hefting it and weighing it’s measure. Tobias sighed with the touch. Then he wrapped his hand around Bradly’s erection and Bradly moaned.
“I’ve never done this before,” Bradly said softly.
“I know,” said Tobias. “Don’t be ashamed. Men can pleasure each other much better than a woman can please a man.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Bradly said. “I’ve never had a woman.”
“We’ll remedy that,” Tobias said and then he kissed him again.
He pushed him back to a sitting position on the couch and then crawled between his legs. He kissed up his thigh and then took his erection in his mouth, making Bradly see stars. It was the most amazing thing that Bradly had ever felt. It was warm, wet, and Tobias kept up a gentle suction. Bradly was over the moon for this.
Tobias knew what he was doing. He expertly worked Bradly’s dick in and out of his throat. It was amazing to Bradly that he could take so much of him. He wasn’t small in the dick department. Tobias seemed to love it though. He deep throated him over and over again. He brought Bradly to the brink of orgasm and then took his mouth away from his dick. It pulsed with his heartbeat for a bit and then settled down as the feeling of orgasm faded before it got too far.
“Would you like to do that to me?” Tobias asked.
“Yes,” Bradly said, throwing his cation to the wind.
He traded places with Tobias and then started to kiss up his thigh. He took his dick into his mouth and felt the fleshy hardness with his mouth. He was amazed that he could take it into his throat much the way that Tobias had. He was a natural at this. It was like he was born for this. He made love to Tobias’s dick with his throat and mouth. When Tobias pushed him back he was discouraged.
“You did just fine but I want this to last being your first time,” Tobias said.
He pulled him until he was sitting on the couch beside him. Then he looked into Bradly’s eyes for a moment. Bradly felt more at ease than he’d felt all night long. Then Tobias leaned forward and attacked his neck. He bit him! It was the most amazing feeling he’d ever felt in his life. Tobias had bit his neck and he loved it. He strained to give him more of his neck. Tobias laughed into the bite. Then he pulled back.
“Have you figured out what I am yet?” Tobias asked him.
“You’re a sexy, wonderful man,” Bradly replied.
“I’m much more than that,” Bradly said smiling wide enough to show him his pointed canines again.”
“Vampire,” breathed Bradly.
“You guessed it,” Tobias said as he bit him again. This time it was his shoulder. Bradly knew he should be terrified but he was not. He loved the feel of the bites.
“You’re drinking my blood,” he said.
“Your blood tastes amazing,” Tobias said.
“Are you going to kill me?” Bradly asked though he really didn’t care at this point.
“No, Bradly,” he said. “I’m going to turn you.”
“You’re going to turn me into a vampire?” Bradly asked.
“Exactly,” Tobias said. Then he went back to biting him.
Bradly began to feel faint from he blood loss. He slid sideways on he couch. Tobias slid with him and continued to drink. Bradly was sure he’d said he would turn him but he felt like he was dying. He was powerless to do anything about it. He just thought that he’d escaped death at the hands of Harvey Plat only to meet Tobias and die at his bite.
“I’ve drained you almost to the point of death,” Tobias said to his ear. “If you want to die tell me. If you want to be one of us tell me that.”
“Turn me,” whispered Bradly.
“That’s all I need,” Tobias said. He bit the inside of his wrist and held it over Bradly’s mouth.
Bradly latched on with strength he didn’t know he had. He drank the blood in large droughts. Then he felt it moving through his body. He let go of Tobias and lay back. He convulsed and coughed, spraying a fine mist of blood all over. Then he felt pain like he’d never felt before. It was everywhere all at once.
“I’m dying,” he said.
“It happens to all of us,” Tobias said. “It’s only your body that dies. When that’s done you’ll be one of us.”
It went on for ages. He turned his head from side to side and moaned through the pain. Everything was pain his world was pain. He felt as if his insides were folding on each other. Then they were exploding. He felt as if his veins were collapsing. He felt like he couldn’t breath but he was sucking air into his lungs.
His eyes lost sight for a long moment first in one and then in the other. His throat felt like he’d swallowed glass. His stomach was on fire and his loins were burning. He cried out as the fever took him higher and higher. He felt that he would be set on fire. Then it was all gone.
He didn’t feel any pain anymore. Gone was the burning and the collapsing. Instead what he felt was a thirst like no other. To say he was parched was such an understatement. He looked at Tobias and really saw him for the very first time. Everything was more in focus than it had been before. He could see everything.
“I want blood,” he said, and marveled at how he sounded. It was like silk.
"I know,” said Tobias. He went to the door and came back with a young black man. “Drink.”
Bradly wasted no time. He bit the man and drank until he was dead. Then the man fell to the floor. Tobias began to break the man’s bones. Bradly wondered what was going on. He broke the bones until the man fit in a trunk. Then he told Bradly that they would bury the trunk. They had to dispose of their dead so that people didn’t catch on.
Bradly understood then. He was a vampire now. He was just like Tobias. He looked into the future and could see much further. It shocked him. He smiled as he looked into the future and saw them burying the trunk. Then they bought a new trunk.
“We don’t usually kill where we sleep,” Tobias told him.
“I’ll remember that,” Bradly said. “What about Jason?”
“He’s a vampire by now, Bradly,” Tobias said. “I’m sure Mary has turned him. She was awful fond of him.”
“Oh she’s a vampire too then,” Bradly said. He was in love with his sight. He could see so much now.
“Yes,” he said. “It was her brother that turned me.”
“Oh,” Bradly said. “Are there a lot of us vampires in the world?”
“Not as many as there once was,” he said. “There is another type of vampire out there and they are our enemy. They kill us when they find us. One of them can overpower you. Remember that.”
“I’ll remember that,” Bradly promised. “How will I know them?”
“There are no females among them,” Tobias said. “They’re all male. They have what they call drones that are just as powerful as they are. They have a certain smell it’s like perfume almost. It’s very sweet.”
“So if I find a sweet smelling immortal run?” he asked.
“If you find one he’ll kill you,” Tobias said. “It’s best to avoid them at all costs. You’ll smell him long before you see him.”
“What about the sun?” Bradly asked.
“It’s deadly,” Tobias warned. “Avoid it at all costs. It will kill one as young as you.”
“I’ll remember that,” he said. “Do we sleep in coffins?”
“Yes,” Tobias said. “We close the lid so no amount of sunlight can touch us.”
"Who guards us while we sleep?” Bradly asked.
“No one,” he said. “We stay in hotels because there is security. If we own a home we employ a staff to look after us.”
“Noted,” Bradly said.
“There’s so much to teach you,” Tobias said. “For instance your second sight should be better than ever. You may be able to read minds like me or you might have hunches like Mary. She knows when things are coming. She doesn’t know if it’s good or bad but she can tell you that something is coming.”
“Did she foretell me and Jason?” Bradly asked.
“Not exactly,” he said. “She smelled you. Then she decided that we needed to get to know you. I gave her a look and she went for Jason instead of you.”
“I see,” he said.
“Not really but you’re getting there,” Tobias said with a smile.
“My smile is like yours now,” Bradly said, fingering his pointed canines.
“Yes,” Tobias said. “Disease will never touch you, you will never grow old, and you’ll never die if you’re clever.”
“Stay out of the sun, avoid the sweet smelling dead, and sleep in a coffin,” said Bradly.
“Those are all true but there’s a lot more to it,” he said. “You can continue to play poker. Their weapons won’t kill you. They’ll sting you but they won’t kill you. You could go back to your farm if you chose to. I’d ask that you stay with me for a while though.”
“I’ll stay by your side,” Bradly said.
“We all say that in the beginning but then we need our independence,” Tobias said. “It happens with every fledgling.”
“What’s a fledgling?” Bradly asked.
“A new vampire,” Tobias said. “They stay with their sires for a long time but eventually they need space.”
“Why would they need space?” Bradly asked. “I’m enthralled with you. That will change?”
"You will become familiar with me and I won’t enthrall you forever,” Tobias said.
“You speak from experience?” Bradly asked.
“Edward enthralled me,” he said. “He enthralled me until he didn’t anymore. He can always find me. I’m his fledgling after all but after a hundred years we drifted apart.”
“You’ve been alive for a hundred years?” Bradly asked.
“I come from England,” Tobias said. “I’ve lost my accent but that’s where I come from. So did Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward. You know them as the Tudors, queens and king of England.”
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