Oscar woke with a hum of power vibrating in his marrow. Elena was a warm, soft weight draped over his chest, her skin glowing in the morning light. He traced the curve of her hip, tempted to stay. She mumbled and shifted slightly, but remained dozing. He stood, stark naked, and watched Elena's chest rise and fall in her sleep.
She really was a lifeline for me when I wanted nothing more but to die. I'll have to make sure to find a way to pay her back some day. He gathered his scattered, ruined clothes, tore a scrap of fabric from his hoodie, and found a marker. See you soon, beautiful, he wrote, leaving the note and his number on the nightstand.
He stepped into his apartment, and the stench of his old life hit him like a physical blow. The air was a stagnant soup of stale beer, rotting ramen, and the sour sweat of a man who had surrendered. Fuck me. I lived in a grave and called it a home.
He moved to the windows and opened the curtains and let some fresh air start circulating. Huh, would you look at that.. The sunlight isn't charring me to a crisp. Oscar heard Lillith's exasperated mental sigh.
[Of course it isn't you baboon. I told you that already.]
Yes yes mother. I just had to make sure. He threw his old clothes in the trash and started shoveling the detritus around his apartment into his garbage bin until he had filled two bag's worth of trash. Oscar started rifling through his closet looking for something to wear. He selected a pair of heather gray sweats and a forest green hoodie. Attempting to put on the clothes was a herculean effort. Finally he had gotten them both on and sighed deeply. Well shit. These sweats look like fucking capris and if I move my arms at all the seams in this hoodie are going to scream. Oscar realized none of his old clothes would fit his newly improved form and he'd have to go shopping. He pulled his cracked 3 generation old phone from his pocket and checked his bank balance. $-12.48. FUCK!
[Yikes...well before you start despairing about that, I'd suggest you go find a mirror.]
Oscar was eager to take the distraction and made his way to his bathroom. He wiped a layer of grime off the bathroom mirror and froze. The man staring back wasn't the loser who'd left for a delivery twelve hours ago. He was taller—his head nearly brushed the low showerhead. His soft, circular jaw had been chiseled into a razor-sharp line of bone and bronze. The hair that he had neglected had become full and lustrous. His skin shone like polished marble. Not a speck of acne marred his noble visage. His once muddy brown eyes were now chocolate brown with small tendrils of red scattered within his iris.
Finally he stopped gaping at his own face and moved his eyes downward. His chest was defined by large powerful pecs and his abs looked like an anatomy model. His waist had shrunk tremendously giving him the V shape that men sunk years going to the gym for. That was all he could see in the mirror and he had one last thing to check. He glanced down, adjusting the waistband of his sweatpants. His eyes widened as he took in the upgrades he had gotten to his hardware. HOLY FUCK I'VE GOT A PORNSTAR DICK!
Lillith's giggling rang out in his mind.
[Mmm that you do. Stroke it a little for me.]
Please focus. Am I going to keep growing until I'm a giant?
[Fine... but you're gonna have to stroke it for me so I can focus. Maybe moan a little too while you're at it.]
I'm being blackmailed by a voice in my head to jerk off for vital information. How the fuck is this my life? Acquiescing to his lecherous mentor, he jerked himself off and moaned half-heartedly.
[Good boy. Annnnnyways, it's time for your first lesson about vampirism.]
[Many eons ago, the first vampire was created, no one knows who turned him. His name was of course Adam.]
Oscar froze. Adam? Like the Garden of Eden, Adam?
[The first of us didn't fall because of a piece of fruit, Oscar. Adam fell because he had an appetite the Garden couldn't sate. Over the eons, he wore many masks: Gilgamesh, Caligula, Saint Germain. He didn't just live through history. He sculpted it.]
Wait if Adam was a vampire, what about Dracula?
[That third rate stick in the mud was real indeed. You humans gave him too much credit. All he did was terrorize a countryside. How pedestrian.]
Okay sure sure, I guess I can accept that these fairy tales are the real version of history. But what does this ancient stuff have to do with me.
[Gods you still have the patience of a mortal. The progenitor of all vampires Adam was the first to make many discoveries about vampirism we still lean on today. To frame this in a way you will comprehend, do you remember all those cultivation novels you loved to read?]
Uh duh. Wait how do you even know that?
[Honey I'm literally embedded in your soul. All of your embarrassing memories are mine to peruse.] She followed that up with a villainous cackle.
[Anywho, I'm going to project something into your mind. These are the stages of ascension a True Vampire can achieve.]
A translucent crimson interface flickered into his vision.
1. Disciple: A newly minted predator bearing enhanced senses, emotional sense, and emotional harvesting. Requirement: be converted by another True Vampire.
2. Scion: A young master who has fed on a variety of emotions and survived the trials of vampirehood. Capabilities vary widely at this stage but most scions can influence emotions. Requirement: Feed 10 times (must be a full harvest). Slay 5 mortals.
3. Primarch: A sovereign of the night. Capable of leveling cities and inciting wars with emotional manipulation alone. Other powers unique to the vampire depend on their soul. Requirement: Feed 100 times. Slay 50 mortals. Slay a mythical beast.
4. Overlord: A ruler of nations. Your presence becomes so powerful masses will burst into hysteria or worship on your arrival. Overlords must choose a specialization to focus on and their powers will reflect that. Requirement: Feed 1000 times and Slay 1500 mortals and 5 mythical beasts. Establish a coven with a minimum of 5 fellow subjugated vampires and 10 thralls. Rule over a domain of 150 square kilometers.
5. Divinity: The apex of vampire kind. Your actions shape the course of history. Capabilities unknown. Requirements unknown.
Oh my. Did you structure this in this format because you know I'm a xianxia nerd?
[Yes. How is that your first question?]
Because this screen looks ripped right out of a cultivation novel. So what rank were you? Overlord?
[You really don't know get me at all. I was a Primarch silly. I have absolutely no interest in the boring bureaucratic elements of forming and running a coven. Power is a means to an end for me and that end usually involves delicious food and bed breaking sex.]
[Now before you ask me more incessant questions. Let me get to your question. No you won't become a giant. Your physical form is being refined until it reaches the apex. Once you have perfected your body, the energy will go refining your mind and your soul.]
Oh wow, so you're saying I'm gonna get hotter... hot damn. Alright well that's nice and all, but having a monster hog and a six pack isn't gonna put money on the table, unless...
[If you're suggesting what I'm thinking, I am all for it.]
He grabbed his cracked smartphone, a smirk tugging at his lips, and downloaded OnlyFans. He typed in the handle, Nightwalker. He set up his phone on his dresser and stripped down to just his sweats. He flexed his rippling muscular arms and showed off his chiseled abs. Moving the camera angle down a bit he took several thirst traps featuring his bulge visible through his sweatpants. Ahh nothing like the classic gray sweatpants.
[While I am greatly amused by you selling your body for money, make sure you leave your face out of it. I'm not worried about any crazed stalkers, but there are other threats out there you're nowhere near ready to face.]
He cropped his face out of the shots, letting the raw, supernatural magnetism of his physique do the heavy lifting. While the internet processed his debut, he set to work. He spent the next few hours purging the filth, scrubbing the apartment until the linoleum shined and the ghost of his failure was scoured away.
[I took the liberty of exerting a bit of my influence on your OnlyFans. Nothing crazy. I merely made a few wealthy repressed housewives aware of you.]
Oscar smirked at the thought of the lonely women worshipping him. He pulled out his phone and tried to open the app, but it kept crashing. Exasperated, he signed in on his beaten up Lenovo Thinkpad and checked his account. Oh... I see. He had over two hundred notifications; the sheer volume had clearly fried his phone's ancient circuitry. He scrolled over to account balance and jumped out of his seat.
Am I dreaming right now?
[No silly boy, you just made shy of 11 grand. Imagine how much you could make posting your actual dick or even better a full blown sex tape. Mmmm I'll remind you to record your next feeding. Two birds with one stone and all that.]
Oscar's head was spinning and he sat back down in his chair trying to comprehend what was going on. He was going viral on this app and had amassed several thousand subscribers who were throwing tips at him trying to get his attention. Some begged for more exposing pictures and others just wanted him to come and fuck them. I could get used to this.
Oscar initiated the transfer and headed out. He made his way out of the slums and to the shopping district. For once he wouldn't have to limit himself to the thrift store. He strode confidently into a designer store only to be stopped at the entrance. The security guard at the designer boutique stepped into his path, his eyes scanning Oscar's tattered, undersized hoodie with blatant disgust. "Wrong neighborhood, kid. The thrift store is three blocks back."
Oscar didn't argue. His hand moved in a blur, catching the guard's massive palm. The sound of grinding bone was faint, but the man's whimper was sharp. Oscar tilted his screen, the $11,000 balance glowing like a taunt.The guard let him pass.
He browsed the aisles picking up armloads of clothing. Lillith helpfully pointed out several more provocative pieces that she felt would suit him. Oscar left the store having spent half of his new income. He made his way to the electronics store and purchased the newest smartphone and a high powered laptop. That was all he had in mind, but Lillith reminded him that he ought to upgrade his recording equipment. He found a nice looking DSLR camera and a tripod and left the store down another 3 grand. Oscar made his way back to his apartment watching as the glitz of rich shopping district faded into drab of the slums.
[Do you plan on moving out of this wretched neighborhood anytime soon?]
No I don't think so. I'm supposed to lying low remember. What better cover for me than this pigsty?
[Fair enough, but are you sure it's not because you want to stay close to Elena?]
That... also plays a certain factor in me staying here. Once we make some more money, I'll start upgrading the place's interior.
Oscar returned to his apartment and opened up his laptop and searched up Marcus Thorne, his ex boss. This man had ruined his life and now he finally had the means to pay him back in kind.
Lillith purred, clearly satisfied with the direction he was taking. Just killing the guy isn't nearly enough for what he's done to me. I'm going to ruin him and make him beg for his death and then only then will I grant him his wish.
[Oh my Oscar. You've got me all hot and bothered.]
Oscar smirked and found what he was looking for on his Twitter page. He found her profile, Lydia Thorne. An ex-pro swimmer with a taut athletic body and eyes that looked hollowed out by her husband's neglect. She was a trophy on a shelf, gathering dust. Perfect, his fangs aching. I'll start with her. I'll take his most prized possession and strip her of every secret she holds. Then I'll ruin his career and his reputation.