Nightstalkers
Born to save a world she never knew existed...

The heavy bass was thumping; Danny found it hard to follow the conversation at their table in the club just off campus. It might have helped if his mind had been in it. As he slowly sipped his beer, he couldn’t quite focus on his friends and their discussion of some trivial team or sport. All he could focus on was what his parents would do when they found out he had failed the year at college.

Most were out celebrating this evening, but an unfortunate few had failed to meet the grade, and Danny was drowning his sorrows till he had the courage to confront his mother and father with the news.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried… the break-up with Mary… the constant tiredness… an empty feeling inside that he couldn’t quite place. College was the last thing he needed right now…

“Another beer man?”

Danny snapped out of his lamentation to see Mike starting questioningly at him across the table, half out of his seat.

“Uh, sure.” Danny shrugged dismissively. As Mike made his way through the crowd towards the bar, Danny’s eyes were drawn to three girls by the edge of the dance floor.

They seemed so totally out of place here, in this student dive. The three were goddesses…. Dark, gothic, goddesses…

As if she had sensed Danny’s eyes, the tall raven haired beauty in the centre of the trio locked eyes with him and smiled.

Danny didn’t quite know how to respond, Just as he found the courage in him to smile back, his view of the trio was blocked by Mike returning with a handful of beer bottles.

“Here man.” He yelled over the thud of the music handing Danny a bottle.

“Mike you see those three behind you? Near the floor?” Danny yelled back, gesturing in the direction of the trio.

Mike swivelled around to look, before flashing a grin at Danny and disappearing towards the trio.

A little voice inside Danny told him that this night was going to be interesting.

Danny absentmindedly sipped his beer as he watched Mike reach the trio, and begin a very careful, nuclear bomb he called flirting.
He didn’t get slapped, and they didn’t leave, instead, mike returned across the club with the 3 girls. Danny was surprised that mike had the necessary charisma to pull off such a miracle, but made a mental note to thank the man anyway.

“Hi, I’m Vanessa.” smiled the goddess with the slightest hint of a Parisian accent. Looking at her, Danny found it hard to look away. The girl was beautiful, way out of his league.
“Ah, Danny.” He stumbled
Danny noticed her two friends getting acquainted with his friends and slid up on the sofa to make room for Vanessa to sit.

“You got to college here then?” he yelled over the beat.

Vanessa shook her head, her rod straight black hair shimmering as it moved. “I’m sort of new in town.” She shouted back. “Well, all three of us are.”

“We can show you girls the best sights.” Yelled Tony grabbing his crotch.

“Ignore him.” Danny yelled at Vanessa while kicking Tony under the table. “He left his manners back in the dorm tonight.”

Vanessa simply smiled at Danny and ran her fingers along his forearm gently.

Danny began to wonder what he was in store for that evening...

“Hey, you girls want to come back to ours for a nightcap?” asked Mike as he wrapped his arm around the waist of a dreadlocked blonde.

“Sounds good to me…” Vanessa smiled looking at Danny.

The group left the club, and Danny was transfixed by Vanessa’s beauty.

Her dark straight hair cascaded over her shoulders liked liquid silk. Her pale complexion highlighted her fine delicate features. The girl was a goddess… She couldn’t have been more than 22, but she carried herself like no other girl Danny knew… she had a worldly wisdom and grace that surpassed her nubile form.

Perhaps there was a god after all….

As the group walked slowly back through the campus grounds, Danny and Vanessa chatted about themselves now they could be heard bellow a shout. She had grown up in a small town south of Paris, and her parents had moved to the states for work.

She was curiously vague about her age and work, just that she was not a student. Danny felt too lucky to press further at this time.

As the group reached their dorm, the couples made their way towards the elevator. As they squeezed into the metal box, Danny felt Vanessa pressed against him, her face upturned and her dark lips smiling at him. Reaching down he pressed his lips against hers in a kiss that almost stopped his heart.
As they broke the kiss, Vanessa snaked her arms around Danny’s waist and purred. “How about we forget that drink?” she whispered sultrily.

Danny couldn’t agree fast enough.

Somehow, Danny managed to make it from the elevator to his room, and let them in with his lips locked to Vanessa’s.

Collapsing onto his bed, the two necked and made out for what seemed like an eternity. Danny was in the process of working out Vanessa’s bra catch when a scream echoed down the corridor.

“What the fuck was that?” he asked with a worried expression.

“Nothing baby, probably just some drunk students.” Vanessa purred before slipping down Danny’s body towards his pants.

Any thoughts he had of pursuing the source of the scream was quickly forgotten as Vanessa sent him to cloud 9.

As Vanessa slid back up, she nibbled her way up his torso to his neck.

“You’re amazing… AAAAHHHHH,” Danny gasped as a searing pain ripped through his shoulder and neck.
The last thing Danny remembered was a warm wet feeling and Vanessa’s bloody lips mashed against his.

Wait bloody?

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The world swam back into focus slowly; Danny had a raging hangover. Rolling over in bed Danny tried to cover his head with a pillow.

For some reason, it was different to usual.

Pushing himself up in bed Danny looked down to see what he had been lying on that hurt his chest… what he found made him recoil in shock. Scrambling backwards he fell off the end of the bed and wound up flat on his back staring up at the ceiling.

Gingerly, he lifted an arm to touch the swellings on his chest. They looked like breasts… They felt like breasts… why the fuck did he have breasts?

Danny let his head flop back to the floor and let out a sigh, a very high pitched feminine sounding sigh. This had to be some funky dream… Last night with that girl Vanessa had been interesting… we must still be asleep he thought hopefully.

“You’re not asleep little one.” Purred Vanessa from the opposite corner of the room where she sat on her haunches with her head cocked to one side and a curious grin on her lips.

“What?” Danny asked dumbly, suddenly shocked at how high his voice was.

“This was certainly interesting.” Smiled Vanessa. “I never expected this.”

“What have you done to me?” croaked Danny quietly.

“Well…” began Vanessa, “Drink this, then we will talk baby.” She purred getting to her feet with catlike grace before handing a mug to Danny.

Carefully he took the mug before sniffing sceptically. “What is it?” he asked eyeing the dark liquid suspiciously.

“Just a special hangover cure I use, trust me, it will make you feel better.” Smiled Vanessa stroking Danny’s bare knee.

Shrugging, Danny tipped the mug back and gulped some of the liquid down.

As the first drops hit his tongue, he knew what it was. The liquid had a coppery taste that was all too familiar, yet at the same time, he couldn’t quite stop himself drinking it down.

Danny emptied the mug in one go before setting it down beside him.

“Why the hell did you make me drink blood?” he asked Vanessa with uncertainty not at her motives, but at his own desire to down the liquid.

“Because I knew it would make you feel better… you need it now.” The goddess smiled knowingly.

“You make it sound like I’m some sort of vampire?” Danny laughed. The smirk on Vanessa’s dark lips stopped him dead.

“You have got to be kidding….” He began, “And why the hell am I like this?” he squeaked gesturing at his body. “I have boobs like a girl.” He whispered mournfully.

“Oh I’m quite serious.” Vanessa answered sternly as if talking to a petulant child. “But the being female part sort of confused me too.”

Danny gawped, and started to really look at his body as he sat on the bed. She was right. “What he fuck?” he whispered almost to himself.

“Look, when I turned you, my DNA blended with yours, adding my vampirism gene to your DNA and rebuilding you from scratch. Normally, it rebuilds a person to their peak… to the full potential of their DNA… I mean… you never see fat or ugly vampires do you?” she smirked.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Danny smirked, “I don’t see any at all! You have got to be fucking kidding!”

Vanessa shook her head slowly. “No honey, I’m not. Welcome to the real world.”

A cold sweat enveloped Danny. “So why am I… wait, I’m a girl?”

Vanessa looked Danny up and down. “Yeah, If I had to put money on it, id say so.”

“I’ve got to be dreaming.” Danny sighed hugging his knees to his chest.

“The only way I can think this might happen, is if you had female dna? shrugged Vanessa.

“HOW? screamed Danny. “I’m… I was a man!”

“Look honey. We need to get you up and dressed, you can’t sit around here nude all day.”

Nodding silently, Danny accepted the offered hand and pulled himself, or herself? to his feet.

Walking over to his mirror, Danny stood before the glass staring at his reflection. But try as he might, he could think of himself as a he anymore. There was no trace of male in what he saw.

The first thing his eyes noticed, was his breasts…. Or her breasts? They appeared firm and prominent. The curve of his waist, the swell of his hips, and obvious lack of penis and balls between his legs made him feel momentarily sad.

Everything was different… from the long shapely legs ending in delicate feet to his thin long small fingers and delicate features. Danny’s hair was Blonde as before, but now hung down past his shoulders in a gentle wave.

“I’m a girl” Danny croaked.

As she touched her face, she withdrew her fingers as if burned. It was all too much for her. This was no dream. If it had been a dream, he would be fucking this body, not being it.

Slumping down onto the end of her bed, she began to cry.

Vanessa who had remained silent during the whole process of realisation silently wrapped a blanket around Danny’s shoulders and hugged her while she cried.

Unlike all the men she had turned, Danny was different. His reaction to the turning was most curious. Something she would have to run by Geistler… Perhaps the prophecy was true? Perhaps he was the one?

All she knew now, was she had a frightened girl to look after and tutor.

If learning the world wasn’t as it seemed wasn’t bad enough, Danny would have to learn how to be herself too…

In truth, she was sorry she had needed to turn him. She wouldn’t wish what was to come on anyone…

Chapter 2 — Bedtime stories

Danny sat on the bed in his room wearing a tee-shirt that could have been a nightgown to her new form.

“Tell me about the world please?” she asked looking at Vanessa. “Right now, I feel like I don’t even know which way is up.”

The dark goddess looked ruffled. Her sultry exterior was cracked. Danny could see a very different woman inside.

“Just explain things to me please.” She pleaded. Danny sighed and stared out into space before balling up some invisible courage and opening her lips, “I want to… but I don’t.. I… can’t blame you for this.”

Vanessa looked at Danny, her eyes searching for any sign that the words were a lie.

“I’m sorry.” She said quietly. “I can see how much this has done to you, I never expected this… the others I turned learned about the world as it is, and lived their new lives, but I’ve broken yours, I feel so responsible.”

Danny looked at Vanessa; he felt no lust for her, no desire, just, a woman; another woman now… the one person he could talk to, she almost seemed a parent to him now…

“Please, I need someone to guide me… teach me what to do…I feel like a little kid…”

“I’ll talk to the council.” Vanessa resolved. “If they agree, and due to the circumstances, I think they will, I’d like to adopt you… you need someone… a mother its pretty much the role I would have by any other name…”

“But I already have one?” Danny asked curiously.

“Honey, do you think you can ever live that life again?

Danny looked dejected. It didn’t hurt as much as he expected it to. “But you’re the same age as me?” seemed to be the only opposition she could form to the idea.

Vanessa shook her head. “I’m going to be 322 in November.” She smiled.

“Huh?…. I think you had better start explaining this whole reality thing to me... Danny replied with resignation. “And yes, somehow, I dunno, I think I’d like that.”

Vanessa cocked her head at Danny, “Like what?”

“To be your… um, daughter?” Danny mumbled awkwardly. “I guess I have to accept a few changes.” As weird as it felt to be saying it, It almost felt comforting to Danny, This was weird… Why was he so accepting of this fate? Was it something else that changed?

Vanessa leaned forwards and kissed Danny on the forehead. “First thing, you need a new name. As I never expected to be a mother thanks to this… way we are… I’d be so happy if you would let me pick my child’s name?” she asked cautiously.

“I’d like that.” smiled Danny.

“Nataliya.” She announced smiling; “It was my mother’s name, my real mother. We can call you Natalie for simplicity.”

Natalie smiled, she liked the name, it was still an internal struggle for her to accept that she was now a girl, but the name now seemed to add some final reality to it. In a way, the name allowed her to feel at home in a role she wasn’t used to. A tiny part of her mind felt detached now. She wasn’t Danny the girl, she was a girl called Nataliya… not herself or himself.

“So, tell me about life then mother.” smirked Natalie.

“Come here and I’ll tell you.” Vanessa whispered affectionately opening her arms to her new daughter. Natalie looked hesitant for a moment before allowing herself to lean into her Vanessa’s side.

“Vampires exist.” She began, “Many centuries ago, humanity split, Homo sapiens grew on as normal, but Homo nocturnus branched off. The first was similar to a condition still present in Homo sapiens today. A deficiency in the blood caused them to need to drink blood for the haemoglobin they required to bond and carry oxygen and nutrients around the body. As time went by, and the first reproduced, this trait was carried over, somewhere along the line, homo nocturnus evolved; many of the old myths are somewhat true. Silver is poisonous to us, the same way arsenic and cyanide are poisonous to Homo sapiens. Crosses are utterly folklore…” she smirked lifting a chain tipped with a gold cross from her cleavage.

“Garlic is nasty, vampire or not, but harmless none the less… Mirrors, great myth used in vampire movies and books, utterly untrue. I mean, it defies logic that something could be present but not reflect?” she giggled. “There is an element of truth to the superhuman strength stories, we can run faster, longer, jump higher, and survive a lot more than a human, but you are not invulnerable, a high enough fall will kill you, and enough bullets in the right place will probably kill you… Sunlight, the biggest myth of all, while it does not turn one to ash as most depictions show, but our skin contains no pigment, so it burns you really badly if you are in direct sunlight for more than a few moments, exposure over an hour will kill you.” Vanessa explained as she stroked Natalie’s hair softly.

“So what about my teeth?” Natalie asked curiously as she touched her pronounced canines. “Were they just another evolution that made feeding easier?”

Vanessa nodded. “I’m not sure when that happened, but it certainly makes piercing skin easier.”

“What about turning? How does that work?” Natalie pressed, her curiosity growing.

“When I feed on someone, and I allow them to drink my blood, that passes the vampire gene in to their blood stream, it replicates and regenerates as you know. As for your case my child, we will have to talk to one of the council elders who knows the most about the process, Elder Geistler.”

“I fed on you?” Natalie asked wide eyed sitting up away from Vanessa. “When? I don’t remember?”

Vanessa nodded. “You were lost in the heat of passion, you probably don’t remember.” She mumbled almost looking sheepish.

Natalie giggled, “My last girlfriend liked it when I was rough, sorry.”

Vanessa smirked, before continuing with her story.

“The society is a mirror of humanity in a way. We have the high council, made up of the oldest and wisest of our species, they rule benevolently, doing what is best to maintain the survival of the species, and harmony with human kind. There are quotas for killing, and most feeding requires the victim left alive and unaware of what happened to them. Turnings are rarer still. These days, nothing more than for special cases, such as yourself.”

“What do you mean?” Natalie asked sitting up and looking into Vanessa’s eyes, “What is so special about me?”

“You are the one that was written about in early vampire lore. Your name, where we would find you, it was said that once turned, you would lead us to victory, and save us from a war of destruction. It’s a heavy weight I know my dear, but it is your destiny.”

Natalie was stunned. She was supposed to save a species she never knew about until today. “From who?” she blurted out, although the answer was trivial, any opponent would eat her alive.

Vanessa looked worried. “In the mid 1300s, a sect broke away from the vampire race, they had no regard for our laws, and our way of life, over time, they evolved too…” she trailed off.

“What did they become?” Natalie asked, without wanting to know the answer.

“Our predators.” Replied Vanessa in a half whisper. “They feed on vampires and they cannot be stopped till you came. You’re blood holds the key to stopping these nightmare creatures.”

Natalie was stunned, she wasn’t sure what to think or how to comprehend that she would be the end of a centuries old conflict between equally nightmarish creatures in her view, regardless of the fact that she now belonged to one of those species.

“I think that’s enough for one day.” sighed Vanessa. “There is such thing as information overload my dear.”

Natalie nodded mutely.

“Perhaps we should work on getting you dressed so I don’t have to take you home naked later?”

“I don’t have any clothes that will fit…” Natalie began plucking at the tee-shirt she wore.

“I’ll deal with that.” smiled Vanessa, “I want you to go take a shower. By the time you return, ill have something sorted my dear.”

Not quite sure as to how she would accomplish that, Natalie followed orders and made her way blindly into the bathroom.

Sliding the lock on the door, she stripped the tee-shirt over her head. That had once been tight on her, and it now reached almost to her knees.

Natalie studied her form as she stepped into the shower.

She ran her hands over her body. The breasts… her breasts felt strange, soft but firm, and touching the dark nipples made her feel funny in her tummy, it was more pleasurable than she had ever experienced before. Her body was hairless except for a small patch where her legs ended. That area was still strictly off mental limits. She might have accepted that she was female, but she was not touching it yet.

Her skin had a creamy whiteness to it, not ghostly, but untouched by the ravages of the sun. The texture of her skin was something else to Natalie’s mind. A softness she had never expected to feel on herself.
Turning the shower on, she slipped down to sit in the bottom of the shower and hugged her knees to her chest.

Closing her eyes she half wanted to wake up as Danny, but a part of her loved how she felt. A part felt at home.

As the hot water poured over her body, she plucked up the courage to confirm what she knew.

Slowly, she slipped a hand between her thighs and gently touched the folds that lay within.

She had a vagina. She had expected some shock, sadness, or sense of loss, but felt nothing, she felt normal… Withdrawing her hand, she clambered to her feet and began soaping herself and washing, this was too freaky to dwell on…

Stepping from the shower, she wrapped a towel around her waist before remembering and covering her breasts with the fluffy cotton.

Stepping from the bathroom, she made her way back into her room and sat on the edge of the bed to dry herself.

There was a knock at the door as she was rubbing her hair with the towel.

After making sure she was covered, she slowly approached the door and opened it expecting Vanessa to have returned.

“Hey, is Danny in there cutie?” asked her classmate Paul while staring at her chest.

‘I wonder if Vanessa, well mom would mind if I just killed one insignificant human?’ she thought to herself.

Chapter 3 — The belly of the beast.

Slamming the door in the guy’s face, she slid down against the door. Why was she having these thoughts? Until today, she WAS an insignificant human…. What the hell was wrong with her mind?

Why had she accepted this so fast? Why had she given up on her life so quickly?

Walking over to the window, she pulled the curtains back to leave a gap of several inches. She ran her hand through the beam of sunlight.

She felt nothing but the warmth of the sun on her skin… Was this all a joke? As she lamented, she felt the warmth grow rapidly to an unbearable level before jerking her hand away.

Dragging the curtain closed, she rubbed her tender hand. Dreams don’t burn.

There was another knock on the door.

“GO AWAY.” She screamed in frustration; not even caring to get up.

“I’ll come back later then.” came Vanessa’s voice from the other side of the door.

Pulling herself to her feet, Nataliya unlocked the door and allowed Vanessa to enter. “sorry.” She mumbled. “A guy I used to know came looking for me and I felt really weird about seeing him…”

“Vanessa dumped a small bundle on the bed. “You will now, they are your food.”

“It feels weird.” complained Natalie making a face. “ I still feel like one of them but I want them…”

Nodding, Vanessa unravelled the bundle. “It’s curious how careless people are with their drying laundry here.” She smirked. “This might not be perfect, but it will have to do till we get you back ok?” she said, handing the clothing to Natalie.

Plucking a bra from the pile, Natalie handled it as if a poisonous reptile. “How does this work?” she asked looking at Vanessa with the underwear held gingerly between two fingers.

Chuckling softly, Vanessa took the bra from Natalie and ordered her to her feet.

Slowly, she showed the girl how to adjust and fit the item before making her do it herself.

The thing felt weird to Natalie. Constricting yet relieving. Awkwardness over, Natalie slipped the panties up her legs, followed by a pair of plain, unassuming jeans that fit much better than anything she would have had.
Finally a College sweater completed her outfit. Within a day of being female, Natalie looked exactly like 90% of her new peers.

Feeling her hair itching her neck, she flicked it out of the collar of the sweater and gave her head a shake.

The long hair was taking the most getting used to. In her entire life, Danny had never grown his hair past his ears. The blonde tresses that now hung down his back were annoying at best.

Sitting down on her bed, Natalie almost felt like she had returned to normal. Atleast she was getting used to the body, strange, considering it had only been a few hour since she had developed it.

A light knocking at the door caught her attention.

Vanessa opened the door, revealing her two friends from the night before; the dreadlocked blonde, and the Asian girl.

Both walked into the room with curious expressions on their faces, and eyes fixed on Natalie.

“I don’t believe it.” Breathed the Blonde. “You fucked up big time Ness.” She smirked with a heavy Russian accent.

“How’d she fuck up Anna?” piped up the Asian girl, “She was told to turn him, not what to expect when it happened.”

“He, um, she is here you know?” Natalie grumbled.

“Sorry.” mumbled Anna looking apologetic. “I’m Annastasya Romanov, and this…” she announced gesturing at the stony-faced Asian girl. “Is Jan Lee.”

Natalie couldn’t help herself, and giggled. “Romanov? You mean to tell me you are THE Annastasya Romanov that went missing after the revolution in 1920?”

Anna Nodded. “Da. But your history books have somewhat incorrect.”

Natalie raised her eyebrows questioningly as the Blonde eased herself into the vacant desk chair, elegantly crossing her slender legs.

“Untill the year 1920, the Russian motherland was run by the Romanov family. We were vampires; the strongest clan in all of mother Russia.” She smiled proudly. “When the revolution came, we were exposed and slaughtered, I barely escaped. The man History pegs as my mother’s lover and advisor, Rasputin was nothing of the sorts.” She scowled venomously. “He stole me away from the bloodbath to turn a Romanov to his disgusting half-breed.” She growled.

“No wonder he was so hard to Kill.” muttered Natalie with surprise. “Was anything in history as I knew it?”

“Most things.” piped up Jan. “A few notable exceptions, but nothing quite as dramatic as Anna’s favourite story. Most of us.” She emphasised. “Keep a relatively low profile.” She smirked glaring at Anna.

“Will you two knock it off for one moment?” growled Vanessa returning from the bathroom. “You’re scaring the newbie.”

“Excuse me, but I’m not exactly a little kid, no matter what has happened.” shouted Natalie. “I might not know what the fuck has happened to me, but I’m not stupid, and I’m not some baby you can talk over.” She seethed.

Natalie was pleased to see the three mistresses of the night recoil at her anger.

“You’re right,” Vanessa began. “This is just new to us too.” She whispered. “Look… I’m sorry I had to do this, but it had to be done sweetie… I just… It has just been something we talked about and theorised over for so long, being here, doing it now is so strange… I promise to include you from here forwards. You deserve that much.”

“Well you can start by getting us to the same page, what are we going to do now?” Natalie asked impatiently.

“We wait for nightfall, and then you get to enter our world properly.” announced Vanessa. “I’d take you now… but I don’t look good with a tan.” She smirked.

Later that evening, the group left the dorm and made their way out into the rapidly approaching dusk.

The cool evening air felt good on Natalie’s skin. She wasn’t sure what to expect as they made their way silently between the buildings and quads of the campus. All she had been told was that they would be ‘picked up’ at some prearranged spot that Vanessa had spoken of.

Rounding the edge of a tall windowless building, Natalie found the group heading out through the bleachers onto the football field.

Danny had never been much of a sports fan, and as such had never strayed down towards the Jockatropalis that was the athletics department.

Staring in fascination she looked around her as they stood on the moonlit turf; it was quiet, but the world was going on around them… Natalie watched the arcing spotlights on the students union building in the distance swing backwards and forwards in the sky… the floodlit Astroturf pitches with groups of students in the opposite direction; the Interstate roaring along three hundred yards away beyond that.

Vanessa stood away from her and the others talking on a phone. Where were they getting picked up? They were near no roads…. How would…..

Natalie’s train of thought was cut off by the sound of Vanessa’s phone snapping shut.

“They are here.” She stated flatly.

Before Natalie could open her lips, she became aware of a distant thud of rotors.
Helicopter? What sort of organisation did these people… ah, creatures, belong to?

The thud became a roar as a sleek black shape slipped from the darkness buffeting Natalie with its downwash.

The side door slid open and Natalie followed the others as they approached the belly of the beast.

As her hand wrapped around the metal step, she looked back.

Could she leave this behind?

Shaking her head, she clambered aboard and sat down.

As the helicopter lifted off, she stared out of the window at the retreating Stadium. The decision was long past…. She had made it the night before…