Command Performance, the Next Day

It had been a pretty wild night; I woke up parched and hungry. I only half remembered the private show I had done, parts of it came back in flashes like someone flipping through the channels while all hopped up on Red Bull.

I found the guys in my band sitting down to breakfast, so I joined them. The smell of their food turned my stomach. Normally I'm a toast and lots of coffee kind of guy, but this morning nothing seemed appetising. My mouth felt like someone had been walking through it with sweaty athletic socks.

The waitress came over to take my order and I just stared at the menu like it was in Greek. Not a damn thing appealed. Out of habit I ordered coffee and lit a cigarette. The first drag tasted odd; by the second puff I wondered who had switched the tobacco with fertiliser. I stubbed it out and took a sip of the freshly delivered coffee, and promptly wished I hadn't. It too tasted like someone had taken a dump in it.

Just then the waitress walked past, a glass of tomato juice on her tray, that really looked good, so I caught her attention and got my order in.

"Man your eyes are totally bloodshot, and you look the living dead." Paul looked at me over his cup of tea, "rough night, huh boss?"

I shrugged, and then took my sunglasses out of my jacket and put them on; the sun coming in through the cheap blinds of the café was giving me a headache.

"That's what you get for gallivanting off and doing that gig on your own," Alan laughed, "you need us to keep you out of trouble!"

Paul leaned in and pulled my shirt collar away from my neck, "whoever you were with last night was sort of rough, you have one hell of a hickey."

Alan added "a bit of a biter, too."

I must have looked as confused as I felt because Paul dumped his plate of scones and held up the silver platter in front of me. In the reflection I saw what they meant. I had a massive bruise just where my shoulder and neck met, and in the middle of the bruise was a couple of lovely bite marks.

I was saved from commenting by the waitress returning with the tomato juice. My mouth watered as I took the first sip, but then all the spit turned to dust, as the taste was so foul I felt like I was going to throw up. I downed the rest in one gulp, hoping that it was due to a massive hangover and maybe I just was really dehydrated.

I decided to step outside, maybe the fresh air would get the drugged out feeling from my system. The cool shadow of the building felt good, then I stepped out into the sun. The minute the sunlight hit me I felt like I was on fire. I jumped back to the shade and looked at my arms; they were red like I had fallen asleep on the beach for a few hours. "What the hell's wrong with me?" I asked of no one in particular, so I was quite surprised to get an answer.

"You've been bitten by a vampire," said the voice, I whipped around and there was the chauffeur from the night before, the one I had dubbed Mr. Sunshine.

He was standing in the greenery next to the front entrance and had obviously been waiting for me to come out.

"Yeah, right, a vampire." I scoffed, "and what are you a werewolf?"

"No, I'm a human. I just work for a vampire." He stepped up next to me, "Here, catch."

He tossed a small silver cross at me and out of instinct I caught it in my right hand. As my fingers curled around it, an electrical charge jolted me; I dropped the cross and stared at it like it was going to strike me like a cobra.

"Now, will you listen?" He put his arm around my shoulder and led me to the back of the hotel, careful to stay in the shadows. He motioned for me to get into a limo, with darkly tinted windows and joined me in the backseat, "you have questions I'm sure."

"Where do I start? OK does this make me a vampire now?" I asked.

"Not yet. You are still half human. You were fed upon but were not given all the blood that you would need to make you a full vampire. Next question?"

"Alright, how to I get back to being all human?"

"You don't. Your options are to stay as you are or become all vampire. My employer asked me to give you the choices and let you decide. If you stay as you are, you will be able to function mostly as a human but you will not be as you were before. You can go out in the daylight provided you cover up your skin, like a vampire must, but overall you are still mortal." He looked at me then out the window, "you may also decide to let my employer finish what he started and make you all vampire. He doesn't bestow this gift on many; it's an honour to be chosen. He admires you. In a lot of ways he is your number one fan. He will give you eternal life."

"But I wouldn't I be undead?" I countered, "and I would have to drink blood right?"

"Yes, that comes with the gift," he waved it off like it was no big deal, "but you would also live forever. There's no such thing as undead, you would just live on a whole different plain of existence than you are now."

"Do I have a third option?"

"The third option, of course, is to just die. You can choose to let someone kill you or take your own life, or let nature take its course." He leaned across me and opened the door, "You have a lot to think about, I won't keep you. Keep in mind that my employer is awaiting your answer. Do not tarry too long in deciding. He may change his mind and make your decision for you; he is not the most patient being."

I got out of the limo and made my way back to my hotel room. This is insane, I thought, this has to be some sort of joke. I decided to call my manager, Russ to see if he had any information on the guy that had hired me the night before.

After a few pleasantries I got down to business, I asked Russ for the name and address. He put me on hold for a few seconds, and then came back on the line, "Well, he didn't leave an exact street address but the name on the bank transfer I got from him was U.N. Knowne."

He spelled out the last name for me; I jotted it down, looked at it a few times and then groaned. "Russ! You moron! That is 'unknown' the guy gave you a false name! I can't believe you just sent me to some whacko's home without checking him out!"

"So you're right." Russ laughed, "Still, you got your money right? No harm done!"

"You mean, more importantly, that YOU got your money!" I snapped, "As for 'no harm done' you have no idea what you're talking about."

Russ stopped laughing, "You OK boyo? Did something happen that I should know about?"

I was so angry I wanted to reach through the phone line and ring Russ' neck. "Just forget it!" I yelled then I slammed the phone down.

As the handset met the cradle, the phone shattered into many little pieces and the two front legs broke off the nightstand toppling the whole mess over. Great, I thought, not only am I half leech now, I have monster strength. This is just wonderful.

"You really shouldn't blame him," a soft voice opined from the shadows, he stepped out of the shadows, "he did you a favour."

At first I didn't recognise him, then a bit of last night came rushing back, the burning red eyes boring into mine, and the feeling of him fucking me as I lost consciousness. I grabbed the lamp from the remaining bed stand and held it like a weapon, "How the hell did you get in here?"

"There are many advantages to being a vampire, one is that we have the ability to go wherever we want to go, and be seen or not seen."

I rushed him with the lamp held high meaning to crush his skull for what he had done to me, he stepped aside at the last minute, but I whirled around and came back at him intent on inflicting harm. He reached out a hand clamped it on my shoulder and squeezed hard. The pain made me drop to my knees, he knelt down next to me, "Now, let's be rational" he whispered in my ear, "I can see you're upset but this won't do."

He loosened his grip on my shoulder and moved until he was looking me straight in the eyes, "Take a deep breath. Now go pour yourself some water and calm down"

Despite myself I did exactly as he ordered. I was in the bathroom drinking the water when he came in behind me. "I didn't think vampires had reflections," I said.

"Of course we do, that's a silly old wives tale." He laughed, "While we're on the subject, we don't sleep in coffins either, unless we want to that is."

"Why me?"

"You mean why did I choose you?"

"Exactly, I mean what do you want from me?"

"Let's move this conversation to a more attractive surrounding." He gestured for me to exit the bathroom before him. I sat down on the edge of the bed and he took the chair opposite me. "This is going to be hard for you to understand, so please let me finish before you ask questions."

He ran his hand through his silver hair and adjusted his jacket before continuing, "I am not into many 'modern' aspects of culture, but I was in a shop and heard a song of yours on the PA. Many years ago, far too many to count really, I had a lover who was a musician. He was a mortal, and refused to let me gift him with what I am now offering you. I heard your voice, did some research on you, and I realised that you are the reincarnation of my lover."

I waited for a few moment before speaking, hoping there was more to this story. "I don't believe in reincarnation."

He made a dismissive gesture, "yes, but up until today I bet you didn't believe in vampires either."

I couldn't really argue with that. "I think you've made a mistake. I'm sorry about your lover but I'm not who you think I am."

I expected a counter argument from him, but instead he pulled his wallet from his jacket pocket and took out a small square of paper and handed it to me. As I took possession of it I realised it was a photo. An old fashioned black and white photo, fading around the edges. The man in the picture had my face down to the scar I have from the time in basic training when I caught a piece of misfired bullet on my cheek. "This is obviously some sort of trick. It's been photo-shopped or something. That's not proof." I scoffed, although in my heart I knew it was genuine.

He smiled softly taking the picture back from me, "Now you know that you don't really believe that." He stood up and came over to me, "I will give you time to think this through."

He opened the door to leave, but changed his mind, he came back to me and placed his hand on my neck, I felt a warm tingling sensation and then he kissed the top of my head and left.

After I was sure he was gone I stole a look in the mirror, the bruise and bite marks had totally disappeared. I tried to convince myself they were never there in the first place but wasn't too successful in doing so.

OK this is just getting weirder and weirder I thought. Maybe if I pinch myself I'd wake up, then again, maybe I just need a lot of alcohol to make this all better. That plan appealed a lot more.

I found my way to the hotel's bar, it was pretty empty that early in the day. Which suited me just fine. I got a bottle of whisky and took it to a corner booth. I looked at the small glass the bartender gave me and figured that wasn't going to be big enough so I just chugged from the bottle. Classy, I know. After a while of dwelling in self-pity I heard someone clear their throat to get my attention.

"Hey boss?" Paul ventured, "You want to talk? You seem really off today, and um I was wondering if you needed anything?"

I mumbled something about needing to be left alone but he didn't take the hint. Instead he slid into the booth across from me.

"Holy shit, did you just chug all that yourself?" Paul continued trying to take the bottle away from me. That set me off, I bit his hand then I grabbed the bottle back with a low growl. He pulled back his hand and took a deep breath calming himself. After a few minutes he broke the awkward silence, "OK boss, serious talking to time. You know I'm not a prude but when a man drinks a fifth of something for breakfast there's something wrong."

Here goes I thought, you asked for it. "You know that gig last night that I did?"

"Yeah."

I took a deep breath and steadied myself, "The guy was a vampire. He hired me to play at what I think was some sort of vampire orgy. I don't really remember all of it, but he bit me. And now I'm part one too." I searched his face for his reaction to what I had said. Paul sat back and waited as if he expected me to tell him I was only kidding. When I didn't he rubbed his hands on his jeans and looked away, "I have to ask, are you on something, aside from booze I mean. You gotta admit that's kind of far fetched."

"Do you remember pointing out that bruise on my neck at breakfast?" I leaned forward, pulling my collar away from my neck, "It's gone now. This vampire visited me in my room and touched it and it's gone."

He placed his hand on my neck and felt for himself. Then he sat back, "Wow boss this is deep shit you've gotten into."

"Do you still think I'm crazy?" I asked.

He laughed, "that doesn't change, you are crazy. But if you mean do I believe you? Yes. I do."

The relief of having someone believe me when I wasn't exactly sure I believed it myself was overwhelming. I told Paul everything I could remember and tried to piece together what I couldn't and he just sat silently waiting for me to finish.

"I'd offer you a drink" he joked, "But I think you've had enough for now. So what now boss? You got a plan?"

It sounded like someone else talking when I suggested that we just forget about all this and go back to my room and fuck. Paul's eyes widened but he agreed readily.

He stripped hurriedly once we were in my room, already rock hard and proceeded to remove all my clothes. I couldn't recall feeling this horny since my teen years. I tend to be more passive with a male lover but I flipped Paul on his back and licked his nipples then moved down to his hardening cock and took him deep into my throat.

I lost my self to the sensations of the soft skin over steel, the slightly salty taste of him and thought Paul was getting into it to until he sat up abruptly shoving me off of him. I sat up puzzled, as he ran into the bathroom. I could see him examining himself in the mirror, it was then I realised his cock was bleeding, and had long scratches on his hips as if he'd been mauled by a wild animal. With a slam it dawned on me that he had.

And that animal was me.

Paul came back into the room and sat down next to me. I could feel the heat of his desire but could also see what looked like fear in his eyes. He tried to make light of it, "no blood sports boss, not below the waist, OK?"

He laid me back again and held my arms over my head, resting his elbows on my chest effectively pinning me down, and kissed me. I clamped my jaw shut fighting the urge to take his lip into my teeth.

When his kisses grew more intense he settled between my legs, nudged his knees under me, lifting my hips up and in one fluid movement entered me. I drew a hard breath around his lips, as his slowly buried himself to the hilt and he let go of my arms.

He made no movement for what seemed like forever, just kept himself locked into me and pressed up against me tightly. Then he laid down on me resting his head on my shoulder, as he pulled out and slowly went back in.

I couldn't concentrate on the feeling of his cock in my ass, I didn't get hard, I didn't do anything but try not to stare at the bulging vein of his neck that was exposed to me by his position. I could almost hear the blood rushing, the rhythm of his heart beat drowning out his moans and sighs.

Maybe if I just lightly kiss that vein, I reasoned, that would be enough, maybe then I could give myself over to his efforts. I bent forward and trailed my lips on his neck, but no ,that wasn't enough.

OK, so maybe a bit harder of a kiss? I pressed my mouth to him and licked the skin feeling the vibration of his pulse. That triggered something in my brain and I had to bite something, I knew I shouldn't bite him so I put my forearm across my face and bit down hard. Oddly it didn't hurt, it just felt good like that first drink of water when you have been working out for a while or that first cup of coffee in the morning.

Paul stiffened and came in me and pulled out. Then he rolled over, sat up and then his eyes widened. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed and pulled my arm out of my mouth.

He yanked me off the bed and practically carried me into the bathroom turning the taps on and pulling me forward. I caught my reflection in the mirror, I had the oddest grin on my face and my mouth, and chin and neck were red with blood. My arm was just as red and it ran down to past where the mirror couldn't reach.

When he turned the tap off and wrapped my arm in a towel, he sat down on the edge of the tub, "you can't go on like this boss."

"So what do you suggest I do?"

"I've read enough vampire books and seen enough movies to know that in order to free yourself, you have to kill the vampire that made you. Maybe that's what we need to do."

...To be continued...