BOYS OF THE NIGHT - #5

Brian stopped jogging when he was nearly half a mile from their parked tour bus. He collapsed in the field, his weakened heart burned with pain. Brian grabbed at his chest, rolling onto his back with exerted effort. He closed his eyes tightly. He could hear his own heart beating in his ears; its rhythm was irregular. It skipped every few seconds.
He continued to lay on the ground, panting heavily. After about ten minutes, his body grew calm, very relaxed. To his relief, his heart beating normally. He removed his hand from his chest and sighed quietly. The sky above him was now pitch black, speckled with millions of tiny glowing stars.
Brian suddenly recalled how he'd gotten to be a vampire. It had all happened so quickly...

The surgery to close the hole in his heart had been a complete failure. The hole had actually been much larger than it was estimated to have been by the doctors. There was nothing they could have done to help it.
The surgery had also weakened his body to the point where he hovered between life and death. He remembered Kevin, AJ, and Howie coming to see him. Their faces were saddened as they read his vital charts and stared at him. Kevin even got a tear in his eye as he watched his cousin literally passing before him. Howie looked nervously to him and the elder nodded. Brian, who was struggling to hold onto life watched as his oxygen support cord was yanked out of the mask he wore to breathe. Brian heard the menacing drawn out beep of the heart monitor; he'd flatlined.
He felt his heart stop totally and his blood freeze in his veins. He was dead, and he knew it. Howie sat down on the stiff hospital bed rolling up his sleeve nonchalantly. Brian reached out him with an arm, pleading with his blue eyes for help. They're murdering me, he thought, helpless in his own fate.
"Oh Brian, will you stop, just lay back down," AJ said as he took a seat in one of the vistor chairs positioned in the corner of the room.
"Don't make this difficult, Cuz. It's gonne hurt for a second," Kevin said quietly as he stood to the bedside, staring down on Brian.
Brian's mind screamed a thousand thoughts and he struggled to hold onto his life. They were killing him. They were actually KILLING him.
Howie glanced at him and then at his exposed wrist, suddenly slashing it open with his long fangs. He roughly ripped the breathing mask off Brian's face, careful of his newly injured arm. Kevin and AJ got on either side of him and held down his body as Howie poured the blood into his mouth.
Brian lurched forward violently, choking and gasping for air. The vampire blood had revived him. He cried out as it burned his throat and stomach, yet he yearned for more of the life-giving substance. He grabbed at Howie's bleeding arm, frantic for blood. They let him drink his fill and then left him alone in the cold, white room, Kevin lingering as he slowly ran his hand over Brian's hair. "You'll be fine, Cuz. Just sleep now," he comforted. And then, as Brian's eyes closed, he kissed his forehead and said something that struck Brian for the rest of his life, eventhough he had no idea what it meant at the time.
"Welcome to the Clan, Brian."

Doctors and nurses from every floor of the hospital came in to look at the "miracle patient." A few even called him an angel. In a way he was - a dark angel. An angel of the night. He'd taken a vampire's blood within him, which in turn made him into a vampire. From that night forward, Brian was condemned to live a life of blood, darkness, and death. Or rather, undeath.

Waking out of his trance, he heard careful footsteps in the grass behind him. He sat up rigidly, preparing to fight or flea.
Nick held up his hands, as if caught in a light. "Whoa, it's me. What the hell are you doing on the ground, Brian?"
"Where have you been?! Do you know how worried I was?!" Brian said, ignoring his friend's question.
"Thinking... on the beach. You okay, Bri?" he asked again. Brian shook his head 'no' and Nick helped him to his feet, worried.
"It's AJ. He killed again. Didn't you get my page?"
Nick dug into his pocket for the pager and pulled it out. "Nah, I turned it off. Sorry, Bro."
Brian turned towards the bus. "We have to go back, man, call Kevin... or something. We have to get away from here, by tomorrow morning. They'll find the body. Damn him, damn that stupid-ass prick...." Nick stood beside him, a good four inches taller. He let Brin drown on about AJ, mumbling verbal attacks and making threats he knew he wouldn't actually keep once he was face to face with the Gangrel. He looked down at his friend, still cussing between clenched teeth. He knew Brian wasn't well. But felt there was nothing anyone could do for him since he was so reluctant to even admit he was ill. A guilt lay heavily in Nick's chest. His very best friend was in need of help, and he wasn't sure how to get it for him. They walked back to the bus in silence.