Ari wasn't certain when the pain appeared. Nor did he know if he was dead or not.

He recalled his situation and smiled wryly. If not for Damien, he wouldn't have been in such a sorry state.

'Damien, Jason. Wait for me. If I don't die, I'll definitely take care of you all.' His imaginary teeth clenched as he thought about his circumstances.

'And to say I killed Liu Mengmeng, I hadn't even seen her since I saw the zombies, she probably got chewed on in some random corner.'

He was about to continue thinking when he felt as if a knife had stabbed into his gut and was slowly being twisted.

His mind nearly collapsed as it felt as if someone were tearing his skin apart, only to sew it back on, just to tear it off again!

Along with the mind numbing pain was a sense of power rushing along with the pain, spreading to all parts of his body.

His stomach after being greeted by a single knife, felt as if numerous blades had been stabbed into it from each part of his body.

Small veins and capillaries appeared to be drawn in blood, however the blood instead of flooding forwards rushed backwards!

Like a raging river, the blood took on a deeper shade of red. His heart, which he hadn't felt for a while suddenly seemed to restart!

He felt waves of pain as blood flowing backwards collided with the new blood flowing in from his stomach.

His heart clenched as a wave of blood nearly shattered it, making him blank due to pain. His body sensations slowly came back to him, however his body was being assaulted with constant unbearable pains!

He felt as if he were left in the Arctic, with no clothes, and someone happened douse him with cold ice water before leaving him next to the frigid sea.

His body slowly turned cooler as blood started to stagnate in his body, slowing down considerably.

His beating heart slowly calmed itself, and then an unprecedented urge for violence and destruction appeared in his mind.

Struggling with the sudden emotional outbursts, he tried to reign in his rampant emotions, however it was as if everything were being amplified.

His eyes which were shut felt as if icy needles were embedded in them, making his mind slow down once again.

After an unknown amount of time, he felt his ears start to ring, and then as if thunder struck, his ears nearly bled.

He felt miserable, as if being seasick and migraines were multiplied by a thousand and then cast down upon him!

His mind seemed to change as he kept undergoing changes he didn't understand. His heart which had been beating normally shook and dark red blood, a different kind than human's started to flow straight through his heart.

He could feel his veins and capillaries undergoing minute changes, while some changes he could feel and vaguely tell what was happening.

His lungs which had been providing him with oxygen slowly stopped expanding and shrunk down quite a bit.

His stomach grew a bit, while his intestines and kidneys, bladder, and all essential organs soon dried out and lost the faint connection it had with him.

The only organ operating normally was his heart, however, with every beat, it sent dark red blood through his veins, and somehow, he could feel his heart emptying.

His blood which should have stopped circulating after the heart started to stutter kept flowing before spreading throughout his body!

This time, he could feel the minute changes across every area of his body. His breathing which had stopped for a while suddenly returned as his lungs filled with air.

His skin slowly stopped changing along with the muscles and bones which had become a lot denser.

Before he was pudgy, but he now imagined himself to have a relatively fit body. He didn't know exactly was this transformation was, however he knew it was either this or die.

After another round of strengthening his muscles and bones, his heart emptied again, and the last of the normal human colored blood flowed back to his heart.

When the last drop entered his heart, there seemed to be a massive change as his heart expanded a size before returning to normal.

Unlike a human's heart, his didn't beat, yet blood cycled through it and directly moved to every part of his body.

His blood that he now produced was now dark red, something different from human's blood.

He felt something and scanned through his body and found a small amount of blood that separate from his heart and merged into the heart completely.

Just as he thought his heart would resume beating, the heart fell silent, and the pain he felt vanished as if it had been a lie.

His breathing eased down a lot and his body relaxed. A faint dry feeling in his throat made him want to touch his throat instinctively.

He felt as if he was being yanked out of the darkness and back into his body when all the sensations his be body felt were directly transmitted to him!

He could smell the scent of everything within a certain range. He could defreniate between scents, and could single out a single smell to track out of several tens of trails.

His eyes which had been closed, keeping him in darkness opened, and a bright light flashed and his eyes rapidly adjusted.

Above him was a ceiling with many small holes, and a part of his mind started to count the dots rapidly. After a moment, he knew that there was four hundred and ninety six holes, and stored that information away.

His eyes moved and he sat up and his eyes trailed over everything. His eyes zoomed in on a book and instantly magnified the fine print until it was as big as billboard words.

With a thought, his eyes returnef to normal and he  turned and saw a figure wearing a black hood, however Ari's new eyes could see the person clearly!

She was a beautiful woman with both Western and Eastern features. She was looking at Ari with a calm look, which made him focus on her.

His eyes, unbeknownst to him turned crimson red and his pupils turned vertical. Along with his eyes, as if provoked, a hiss came our of the woman's mouth as she became a blur that knocked Ari off the raised platform he was on.

He hit the floor and rolled several meters, however his body was unharmed, save for the area she hit him in. His bones ached, as if he had just done strenuous exercise.

"Don't try to provoke me again. I know you don't know this, which is why I didn't strike to kill." Hearing her words, he rolled his eyes as he got up.

"I just looked at you, how is that provoking you?" He rubbed some dirt from his elbows and walked over and bowed to the woman, who's eyes widened in surprise.

"W-what are you doing? Get up!" Seeing her flustered face, Ari smiled lightly and raised his head.

"You saved my life, and though I know I've changed, I still had to thank you." Ari said as he stood up. He realized that he seemed a bit taller, and his body, which was pudgy before bow had muscles in all the right places, and didn't affect his movement at all.

Instead, his muscles seemed to be lithe, same as a wild animal who preyed on others. He smiled happily as he patted his stomach and found that his abdomen had now changed from fat to muscle.

His skin was fair and pale, and his messy dark brown hair had turned into a wild but attractive look. His face was comparable to super models and his eyes were crimson red.

Wearing his happy smile, he looked like a fallen male god. Especially when one looked down. He wore a pants, but his exposed chest and body was perfect.

He turned to the woman opposite and smiled with a thankful look on his face. 'Not only did I not die, but my body is now a lot better than before.'

She walked over gracefully and stopped a few inches from his face, and despite her slightly short stature, she looked up at him and spoke softly.

"I am Azara, and I'm a vampire. Before you ask, vampires do indeed exist, and you're living proof. I turned you at your request after I offered you the option."

Ari nodded as he remembered us pitiful state. When he thought about Damien and Jason, his emotions let out a small burst of killing intent.

"Restrain your killing intent. We have to look for suitable prey so you can fully change into a true vampire."

"Then what state am I in now? Am I like a half breed or something?" Hearing his words, a flawless eyebrow was raised, and she nodded despite not fully accepting the term he used.

"If you don't drink blood within an hour of awakening, you'll fall back into a slumber for all eternity. It's essentially a forced death. Those who fall into that state should just be put out of their misery." She shook her head as she remembered several of her friend's deaths.

"I assume you know where some prey is? Wait, do we actually feed on humans?" He asked as Azara led the way and came out of a concealed bunker.

In the vicinity, a few zombies were staggering around, however they ignored both Ari and Azara. As he turned to ask Azara, she answered.

"We're as dead, if not more dead than zombies. While we don't get infected, even by this disease, should enough zombies surround a vampire, the vampire may be torn to pieces."

"That doesn't sound fun at all. Why would a vampire charge into a hoard of zombies?" He asked while keeping pace with her as they walked down the street, one covered in a cloak while the other was half naked.

"That vampire was an idiot who believed himself to be unbeatable, and he met a tragic fate. Remember, even if we don't age and die like humans, we can still be killed, by a stake to the heart, or decapitation."

"So stakes actually do work? Then why decapitation?"

"Stakes pierce our heart, and the connection between the vampire and the body is severed, causing the vampire's soul to shatter to pieces, from which you cannot return."

"As for decapitation, any massive trauma, like an explosion or a grenade can indeed kill you if you're not careful, but it's rare that one can ambush a vampire in the first place."

He nodded as he wasn't even a vampire yet, and he could hear everything within a few meters as if it were happening right in his ears.

"There's a few humans holed up in the building ahead. You can do as you please, I'll step in should you actually encounter dangers."

"Thank you, really. Without you, I'd be dead, or maybe even a zombie staggering around only waiting to be killed, and endlessly hungering for flesh."

"You do know that you now have to drink blood forever, is it that much of a difference?" Azara asked while Ari nodded vigorously.

"I'm myself, or who I want to be. I wouldn't want to die as a zombie, it seems boring as hell." Hearing his answer, Azara laughed lightly.

Hearing her laugh, along with her perfect features, it seemed to enhance her beauty. His eyes unconsciously kept tracing over her figure even as he turned his head, making him realize that he had eidetic memory.

"Go. I'll wait here. As your maker, I have to bear responsibility to ensure you become a competent vampire."

He nodded and walked over to the two story house with windows closed and windows shuttered. His eyes rolled as he walked past a zombie and climbed the steps.

He knocked on the door with a shy smile, as he was never good at meeting new people. His sensitive hearing could pick up the sound of an excited heartbeat, as well as several others.

After knocking a few times, the door shook and a man hesitantly opened it and sighed in relief seeing it was a person!

His relieved face turned wary as he took his other hand out and Ari saw a nondescript pistol in his hands.

"I was passing by and I needed a bit of sustenance for my journey." Hearing his words, the man sighed and opened his door and allows him inside, however when he moved to cross the threshold, an invisibe force barred his entry.

His face turned dumbfounded as he watched the man before him turning around and looking at him with confusion.

"You rather stay outside with the zombies everywhere?" Seeing the man raise his thumbs in respect, his eyes rolled.

'If it wasn't because I couldn't come in, I'd  definitely hurry to get blood so I don't fall into an eternal slumber.'

"It seems like I can't get in."

Ari looked at the man with a helpless look, making the man frown in confusion.