From: ssalter@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (-=[SLS]=-)
Subject: Bite!-03
Organization: OFSA
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 14:17:42 GMT


	Low hanging, grey clouds rolled overhead swiftly. A lashing of
wind was accompanied with a burst of cold rain that slashed through
the naked limbs of the trees surrounding me. Though it was shrouded by
the masking clouds, the sun had just set a few minutes ago and it was
very dim on this forest trail. Regardless of the ambient light I could
see quite well and padded down the trail quickly and surely. The cold
rain chilled me deep within and my body ached for nourishment.       .

	Ahead of me the bushes rustled and I glimpsed the brown furred
flank of a medium sized whitetail. Instinctively I crouch and move
rapidly forwards with the silent grace I possess. Regardless of my
stealth, the deer sensed me and turned to flee but it was too late! I
sprang forwards with an inhumanly long leap and landed atop her broad
back. Seizing her head in my hands I twisted sharply and the crack of
her vertebrae was quite audible over the moaning wind as she fell
thrashing to the leaf molded ground. I then stretched her straining
head back and bending down, began to feed. Her hot blood gushed down
my throat, revitalizing my system and causing my muscles to flex
involuntarily. Ahhh, a sweet one, this doe.           

	After I had slaked my thirst I crouched beside her motionless,
cooling body and thought of my plans for the coming week. I had
finished the business in Massachusetts and been back in Indiana for a
couple weeks. Progress on my new computer game was satisfactory and I
had been planning on finishing up the artwork and then refining the
animation functions. Then, I had received a invitation from a Net
friend to visit the coming weekend. I had first decided not to follow
up on it since she lived in California but after consideration,
changed my mind. It had been a long time since I had been on the west
coast and deep inside me a longing for the sea emerged.          

	I arose from the body fluidly and slipped back up the path
that led home. My body was glowing with life and I felt content. The
blood of animals sufficed to keep me alive well enough but there was
none of the ecstasy I experienced when I fed from humans. The human
lifeforce added a somewhat mystical experience to feeding that base
animal life lacked. Perhaps it was because I was human also...or at
least had been. It had been over a month since I had slaked my thirst
completely and the few pints I had consumed tonight would just
maintain my being. I didn't need to gorge every night, as most
vampires did, but that was due to my extreme age. At least that was my
own private theory. I had been wandering this mortal globe since the
time of glory in Greece, when the Parthenon had been new. Over the
centuries I had found my actual need for blood lessened although the
psychological factor was something else. It would be easy to fall back
into the old habits of feasting every evening and thrilling to the
ecstasy of fresh human blood rushing through my veins but I found I
didn't actually need it.                

	I emerged from the forest and entered my home from the back. I
stripped off the sodden clothes and walked into the living room. My
computer hummed quietly, secure from all power outages due to the
uninterruptable power supply I had hooked up to it when I had bought
the machine. I left the thing on full time and only shut it down to
change boards or add additional hardware. My phone lines were
connected to the high speed HST modem and an additional, special card
that intercepted voice calls and allowed my computer to function as a
high tech answering machine. The phone icon in the right lower corner
of the screen was blinking, announcing the receipt of some messages.

	I clicked the mouse cursor on the blinking icon and stretched
as the external speakers repeated the messages stored on my hard
drive. A warm, husky voice filled the room.   

	"Hello, Steven. This is Kim. I wanted to see if you had
received my email. I really would like to see you again if you can
make it out here this weekend. Please let me know. Talk to you later,
I hope." ....click....   

	Hmmm, I felt a twitch and swelling in my groin as I mentally
reviewed the last time I had visited Kim a year ago. She had been on a
business trip in Chicago and I had joined her for a non stop evening
of hot sex. This inhuman body of mine is quite normal appearing when I
have my fill of blood and everything works just fine. Kim was one of
the few human women I had found in my life who could manage to stay
with me during these sexual marathons. My vampiric endurance was
superhuman and when I orgasm my partner receives a charge that appears
to be a combination of electrical and emotional energy. Quite a few
women have found it too much to handle and just faint dead away, so to
speak.           

	Sex is something I always enjoy but an activity I rarely
engage in. It is pleasant but there is no craving for it as there is
for blood. I knew of several vampires in the past that were obsessed
with sex and always raped their victims as they fed. Just another
maladjustment to the vampiric nature, I suppose. Some vampires have an
irrational fear of Christian crosses , or running water or even
garlic! The best reason for this that I have ever been able to deduce
is that they just expect that is how they are supposed to be, from
descriptions they read as mortals. So, it only follows that a mortal
obsessed with sex will retain that as an immortal.         

	When I was created as a vampire I had no obsessions to speak
of, I was a student of science, had a normal happy home life. I didn't
know what to expect and just learned of my abilities as the years
passed by. I still surprise myself with little things now and then,
such as the ability to sense a mortals emotions. Empathy is just one
paranormal ability I have developed.      

	I called Kim and connected to her answering machine. I left a
message that I would contact her on Friday night when I arrived and
then called another number to make arrangements for my California
retreat to be prepared. I maintained homes all over the globe and left
caretakers with sufficient funds to be sure everything was kept up.
Money was of little matter since I had accumulated vast funds over the
centuries. There were secret caches of gold and gems and other
precious materials strewn all over the earth in locations that only I
or another vampire could reach, such as the peak of a little known
mountain in Tibet or an undersea cave off the shore of Manhattan
island. I had a staff of lawyers that handled my affairs and mailed a
yearly summary to a special post office box once a year.          

	Over the vast expanse of time I had been roaming the earth I
had loved deeply innumerable times and my heart had been broken the
same number of times. Most were human women that eventually died
leaving me alone again. Twice I had loved fellow vampires. That didn't
work out because of innate psychological differences. They could not
understand my compassion for humans or my fascination for the human
sciences. They had existed to hunt and spread terror and just BE. Just
existing was never enough for me...I had to learn and experience
everything I came in contact with.            

	Yes, I was looking forward to spending time with Kim, but I
wanted so very much more. I wanted a mate that I could love forever.
One I could share my eternal life with, one to wander the wide world
over with...   
	
<Steven>
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