Loud. 

Everything was extremely loud. He could hear waves crashing against wood. The wood creaking with each hit, almost as if it were groaning in rebuttal from the battery of sea water. Someone was nearby, breathing quietly... asleep. A faint scent tapped his nose, letting him know that it was a human. 

Hmm, it? Am I not a human?

A deep rumble in the back of his head made Alexandre question his previous thought. The sound definitely hadn't come from the captain... In fact, he couldn't even feel his presence in his mind like he normally did. He was definitely close, though, because his scent was mixed with that human's in the air and somehow he could sense that there were two people in the room besides himself. The human... Ria, that was the boy's name. If he was there, then the other must be James. He could sense other humans on board, too, but the other creatures were what bothered him. 

He also felt cold, right down to his bones. Like, perhaps, he'd somehow changed into one of them. Into a vampire.  

His body abruptly jolted upright in the bed he was lying in, except his new strength sent him onto his feet and about a meter into the air, effectively causing him to smack his head on the ceiling before dropping back down with a bounce on the blankets. 

Woah. 

"Alexandre?"

So loud. 

He winced at the sound of the captain's voice, but then slowly turned his attention toward him.

Holy...

He looked like a god! There must have been something seriously wrong with his vision. Except, when he glanced around the room to see what everything else looked like, the finer details of things that he had missed while being human were blatantly clear now. Even Ria, with his little stick-and-bone body showed so much more now. His face was malnourished and tinted a faint grey while his eyes, though looking much better, were still sleep deprived and needed quite a bit more nutrients. 

As he let his eyes adjust to the new way of seeing, Alexandre let them study the boy's reaction. It was clear that he knew what he was now, but curiosity mixed with the fear in his eyes. 

"Ria." 

Alexandre wanted to hug him. To tell him that everything was going to be fine, that he would make it fine with his new abilities. But then it happened. His stomach lurched, drawing a pained growl from his throat before it did it again, then again. It felt like he was going to throw up, and after looking around in panic for a moment his hair was grabbed roughly and his head pushed down into a bucket. 

The whole motion threw him off balance and off the bed, but he was plenty comfortable on his hands and knees as he began to throw up... what? He hadn't eaten anything in a long while, if he remembered correctly...

"Calm down and let your body do the work."

Work?

"I can't read your mind for some reason, but your body is dead, it needs to get rid of everything that isn't useful."

"W-what?"

Another strong lurch from his stomach finally got the process started.

Did I just cough up a lung?

"Your body only needs its heart and basic structure of veins and arteries now. You may end up keeping one of your lungs until your body figures out how to function without it, but the rest is leaving. It should mostly be dissolved by all the vampire blood you drank so just let it come out. You will feel much better once it's done."

"Why?"

"Why? Because that is how it is. Some vampires end up keeping a few pieces, some keep it all, but obviously your body has decided to get rid of the useless stuff."

Alexandre didn't realize when the man's hand in his hair loosened and slowly shifted to hold it back away from his face, keeping it from getting mixed in with the unsavory things coming out of his mouth. He was also kneeling right beside him, his nose wrinkled slightly in distaste. 

Alexandre wasn't very happy with his new sense of smell right then, either.

"Ria, come over here and grab the small knife on my desk," James ordered.

Alexandre heard the boy doing as told, but there was no way he would drink from him if that were the captain's thoughts. He still wasn't anywhere near healthy enough and he had no intention of feeding on anyone, anyways. 

When he finally finished losing most of himself into the bucket the captain pushed it away and then tugged Ria closer before grabbing the knife from his hands... which Alexandre promptly stole away from him. At first the captain seemed stunned, evidently having not even seen his hand move? but then he let out a quiet warning growl and opened his hand in front of him.

"Give it back, Alexandre. You need to feed."

"No, I won't."

That was to answer both questions as Alexandre wiped his wrist across his mouth and stood up. James made a move to grab his other wrist, but Alexandre had his before he could even blink.

"Alexandre..."

His tone was another warning, but he had no intention of listening. He'd turned him into a disgusting blood-sucker. Well, he wasn't going to accept it. He knew that a vampire didn't live long without blood, and he likely had less time considering he was new, but hopefully he'd last long enough to do what was needed.

Alexandre's attention returned to James, who was now struggling to get free of his grip.

"Do not think that your sudden burst of strength will do you any good. It is only because you are a newborn. It will disappear in less than an hour!"

James was baring his fangs and growling, but he wasn't afraid. One hour wasn't exactly the amount of time he needed, but it would have to do. With a grunt of effort Alexandre blurred to the left and slammed the captain into the wall right above his bed. The wall splintered, then dropped him down to his bed where he promptly grabbed either side of his face and gave a sharp twist to the left. A satisfying crack was heard as the vampire's body went limp, telling him that he had broken his neck.

 Good, that should hold him for a while as his body tries to heal.

A quiet whimper brought his attention over to Ria. He could smell the blood in his veins and feel it calling to him, but his self control easily pushed that to the back of his mind. Instead, he opened his arms and smiled lovingly.

"Come here, sweetie. I'm going to fix everything now." 

The boy looked extremely hesitant to come near him, but when Alexandre didn't move or say anything else, he carefully stepped closer, then into his arms. Alexandre's hands could feel every bone beneath the warm skin where they touched, but that wasn't what caught his attention... he was crying. He couldn't remember a time when Ria had actually cried.

"Why are you crying, Ria?" 

Alexandre's voice was a quiet whisper against his soft hair. He felt him shift a bit, making him lean his head back just enough so that their eyes could meet. 

Oh...

"Because y-you're not bad. You're... a good monster." 

That made him smile. He could see something surprising in his eyes... hope. It meant everything to him. The fact that he could give him back such an important thing. 

"I promised that I'd save you, and I will." 

Kneeling down in front of the young boy, Alexandre took his hands in his own and pressed a kiss to the back of one. 

"Will you stay here and be good until I come back? I'm going to put my new strength to use and help everyone else, okay?" 

Ria quickly nodded, the hint of a smile on his lips. With a light chuckle Alexandre stood and ruffled the boy's hair playfully. 

"Good boy, I will be back soon."

Ria quickly ran over to his pillow and sat down, making Alexandre grin as he headed for the door. The sound of two sets of feet running right behind it caught his attention, so when the door swung open, he was ready. Desden and Ari were there. 

Good, I wanted to free him first to be sure he was okay.

"What are you doing..."

Desden's question was cut off when he looked past him to the captain.

"C-captain!"

Desden snarled, but before he could bother to even raise his fist, Alexandre had him by the neck and was easily lifting him off his feet with a determined growl.

"You'll be the first to die... again. But this time you will all stay that way!"

He was just about to crush his windpipe when he felt Ari wrap his arms around his waist.

"What are you doing?"

"P-please don't kill him, Captain!"

"What? Why?"

Alexandre's grip loosened slightly, but was still easily strong enough to keep the vampire from being able to strike back. He really couldn't understand why Ari wanted him alive, though. Hadn't he tortured him?

"H-he isn't that mean. Please don't kill him."

The boy's eyes were pleading and beginning to water... damn it all.

"Fine, but he isn't going to be awake for awhile then. I don't need him getting in my way."

Ari backed off a few steps as Alexandre put Desden back on the ground just long enough for him to break his neck as well. The sound made Ari jump.

"He's fine, just put him on the bed with the captain. I have things to do."

Ria ran over to help Ari as Alexandre stepped over the unconscious vampire. Several of the blood pirate crew were on deck and they were already beginning to gather, having seen what he had done to Desden. 

Good.

"I just broke your captain's neck as well as his first mate's. Why don't you do something about it you disgusting blood suckers!"

The insult got them bristling, and soon enough he had a fight on his hands. The first to reach him obviously had a gift for speed, but was unfortunately not fast enough to avoid his hand digging into his chest. Alexandre blurred away as his body fell to the floor, suffocating with the loss of its heart.

The next two vampires were in range seconds later. One was swinging his blade while the other struck with claws. The sword didn't bother him, but he'd noticed most vampires had abilities that focused in their hands, so the one attacking with his claws needed to be the first of the two to die. 

Alexandre easily dodged the claws and watched with satisfaction as the blade cut through the vampire's arm, severing it as he lunged forward and grabbed his head. After just one sharp yank he snapped it completely backwards, then gave one extra turn to be sure that he wouldn't be healing from the injury.

Fangs sank into his neck as he straightened to find the vampire with the sword distracting him at the worst time. A blade slid through his chest, forcing a painful scream from his lips before he quickly yanked it out and then swung his body around, throwing off the other vampire who was drawing out much needed blood. He hadn't fed, so he knew bleeding too much would be detrimental to free everyone.

When they both moved in together Alexandre grabbed the blade from the one on the left and used it to easily remove the right vampire's head. The other jumped back with a surprised look on his face, giving him the perfect opportunity to remove his head as well with the blade he'd so kindly lent him.

The last four on deck were all glowing one way or another. 

Alright, magic users then!

"Come!"

Alexandre barked the order right before they all ran forward. The scraggly man on the left made a punching motion and he just barely managed to move as a bolt of lightning charred the spot where his feet had been not a second earlier. Alexandre couldn't respond yet because there was a huge wave of water washing over the ship that seemed to be locked directly on him. He quickly noticed the one controlling the water was tinted a glowing shade of blue and blurred his way toward him, slicing through his chest with ease before making his way to the lightning user. 

He was just about to decapitate him when a burst of fire blew them away from each other, then abruptly surrounded him in a deafening roar of heat!

"Captain!"

The fire enveloped him immediately, burning his skin even as he tried to move away. Every time he blurred to a new area to catch a clean breath of air or try to put out the flames on his body, the fire followed. Soon, he was on his knees as the oxygen his body still needed was eaten up by the fire. 

I can't die here! I have to free the humans! 

A faint flicker in the back of his mind called to him to touch it, but he didn't understand how. As the flames got hotter, his mind blurred, but the flicker pulsed forward, begging to somehow get to him. A strong gust of wind blew the fire's smoke away for a split second, allowing him to get a clean breath and clear his mind enough to reach through it and touch that flicker of power.

The results were immediate, and loud! It sounded like a seabird had shrieked into his head as the fire was blown clear out of existence, its host slamming against, and through, his cabin's walls. It definitely wasn't enough to take him out, hardly, but it gave Alexandre enough time to stagger to his feet before he was back, walking toward him as flames began to circle once more. 

As his hand lifted, the fire roared back into an inferno, but Alexandre quickly reached back to press against his own flicker of power and gave a satisfying smirk when the fire was once again blown out. This time, however, the captain only stumbled back a few steps before continuing toward him.

W-what?

His fire roared back to life for a third time, choking off all of his oxygen and forcing him to fall to the worn wooden planks. Alexandre tried to use his magic once more, but he found it unreachable and dull. It had already been used up?

There you are, love. Thought you would take my ship, did you?

"N-no!"

His boots stopped right in front of Alexandre's face, but he couldn't move enough to even strike at him with his claws. The damned fire had taken all of the oxygen from his blood, right along with his energy.

You cannot have one without the other. The oxygen in human blood is your power. If you had fed you would have likely been able to push me back for awhile longer, but you refused. I suppose it was for the best.

Alexandre glared at him with watery eyes from the smoke as James reached out, running his hand along his face until it stopped at his neck. The fire died down to small flickering pops in the air, then vanished completely.

"You killed four of my crew and attacked me, as well as my first mate."

His hand slowly moved upwards to run along Alexandre's jaw, back to his ear, then through his singed hair before he spoke again.

"The normal punishment for such behavior would be death... but I know that is what you wish for yourself, is it not, love?"

He didn't respond since he obviously knew the answer. He hated what he had become and if he was going to be a vampire and feed on humans just like the captain and his disgusting crew, then he would rather be dead. The man's sick smile told him that he could hear what he was thinking again, too.

Alexandre watched, determined to stay conscious, as James reached forward and gently pressed his finger between his lips.

"No, I believe there is a much better punishment for a newborn than to die..."

Alexandre was confused until he pressed against something extremely sensitive in his upper jaw, then began circling it. It was extremely uncomfortable and actually was beginning to hurt. 

"Did you know... newborn vampires have extremely sensitive fangs?" 

He flicked the fang lightly, making him gasp and whimper from the sudden burst of pain it caused. 

"Did you also know... that if a vampire loses its fangs that their body immediately shuts down and puts all remaining energy and effort into rebuilding them?" 

He flicked the fang again, making Alexandre wince. He was sure he wanted him to start begging him not to break the fang, but he wasn't going to. In fact, when he began to circle it again he lifted his jaw slightly and then bit down on his finger with a tired growl. 

The captain didn't seem bothered as Alexandre sucked at his finger, the blood taking his full attention away. Its taste was good, but it was also a little stale... as if it had been reused several times.

"Indeed. Well, your punishment is not to lose a fang, for I want you awake. No, your punishment will be to exist. You will be a vampire and you will feed from humans just like the rest of us."

Alexandre was about to open his mouth to reply, but when the captain reached out of his view and then yanked his arm back, Ria fell right in front of him. 

No!

"Starting now, you will feed from this boy until his death. Then you will get another slave and do the same for as long as you live. You killed four of my vampires today so even if this human dies soon, you will have plenty to choose from for your meals... but you may only feed from one until their death, you may not split the feedings."

"...monster!"

The captain's smile grew into one that nearly bordered on hysterical before he lifted Ria's arm to his lips and bit into it with a feral growl. When he moved the boy's arm away a moment later his mouth was covered in fresh blood and no matter how hard he tried, Alexandre could feel his body calling for it, hungry.

"You will be the worst of us all..."

He then shoved Ria's small bleeding arm into Alexandre's mouth. Unable to hold himself back any longer, Alexandre bit down. He refused to drink, but his willpower was slipping terribly fast as liquid warmth began to coat his tongue.