Kai's chest rose and fell as he looked down into the circle, eyes wide.
"...Well," he said with a grin. "That's either the best thing I've ever done… or someone's about to explode."
The room was tense the moment Kai said those words. The vampires looked at each other, unease etched on their undead faces. Julius, ever the one to break a heavy silence, stepped forward and asked, "What's going on, boss?"
Kai didn't answer immediately. He walked to the bowl in the center of the warehouse, now radiating a low, pulsing blue glow. It shimmered with power like the calm center of a brewing storm. Tom looked between the bowl and Kai and asked, "I don't feel anything. Am I not supposed to feel a change or…?"
"Oh, don't worry," Kai replied, his tone light and playful in a way that made the others more nervous than reassured. "The real experiment is just about to begin. You were only a piece of the spell component."
Some time later, a small glass cup was placed before Tom. It was filled with a portion of the glowing blood from the bowl. Kai motioned to it with a grin. "Bon appétit."
Tom hesitated, his hands trembling slightly as he picked up the cup. He looked at the others Julius, Michael, Travis, Larry all staring at him with tense expressions. Then he turned back to the cup, took a breath, shut his eyes, and drank it in one long gulp.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
Then Tom screamed.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH".
He fell to the floor, writhing violently. His veins began to glow a sharp, unnatural blue beneath his skin, pulsing with every beat as though something was rewriting him from the inside out. It went on for three minutes to ten and from that to fifteen and finally nearly half an hour of screaming, spasms, light bursting under his skin.
"Is he dead?" Travis asked, voice shaky.
Larry crouched near him. "No I don't thinks so look he's still breathing."
Michael, pacing, snapped, "Then why the hell isn't he moving?"
"Everyone shut up," Kai said, stepping forward and crouching. The moment he did, Tom groaned and then pushed himself to his knees.
His eyes opened.
His irises now held a light blue glow, veins dark and raised beneath his eyes, fangs out. His breathing was erratic but steady.
Kai's eyes lit up with excitement. "Well, well, well," he muttered, a slow smile forming on his lips. "Now that's a good sign."
He turned to the rest. "So then who's next?"
The sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable as he said, "Come now, don't be shy. You want magic, don't you? Et voilà, a vampire with wellspring magic. It'll only hurts a little."
One by one, they drank. One by one, they endured the pain. Three hours later, all five vampires had the same glow in their eyes. The blood in the bowl had nearly run dry, but it didn't matter. Kai had what he needed.
Soldiers.
Weapons.
Success.
Looking over them, Kai said something about how even John lost to their cause would've been proud. Julius, always the one to ask, finally spoke again. "What now?"
Kai turned with a smile. "Now? Now we do magic."
---
Two Days Later – Same Warehouse
The warehouse had become something resembling a classroom or at least Kai's twisted version of one. The five vampires, were now a little bit more attuned to wellspring magic, were seated or standing across the space, learning from Kai directly. He called it "Magic Basics for Dummies," and so far, they were adapting well.
He ran them through the fundamentals: telekinetic spells, fire spells, simple aneurysm hexes, oh yeah, fancy that last one. Each vampire had a natural affinity for certain spells, but all of them had one thing in common which is their vampiric side kept them from breaking down under the strain of magical overuse. The same overnights would turn magicians to Niffins. The stabilizing agent had worked flawlessly.
There were no tremors or breaking down and no spontaneous combustion as well.
So far.
Kai monitored their magic capacity closely. It turned out the vampire condition provided a buffer that most humans lacked. A spell that would leave a human unconscious barely fazed them. Kai leaned back, arms crossed as he watched Larry levitate a wrench and spin it mid-air. Bare functional as they didn't have the talent but they were progressing.
But then he froze.
"Oh, shit… the trials."
He shot to his feet and moved to the front of the warehouse. "Alright," he called out. "Take a break. Blood bags are still in the cooler. You can now walk around if you want, just don't do anything stupid."
He looked back at them. "You'll all return here. Naturally."
Tom scoffed and said. "Not like we have a choice, boss. You've compelled us to always return. Not get carried away by hunger. Have more control over our urges. And abandon all past habits."
Kai smirked, but his eyes shifted a little. 'Maybe I shouldn't have told them that part… Nah it'll cause less trouble for me'.
They were practically harmless unless he gave the command.
"Charming, isn't it?" Kai said dryly. "I gave you all new leases on life and the only catch is total magical obedience. You're welcome."
With a quick grin, he blurred away.
---
En Route to Julia's Apartment
He finally glanced at the phone he hadn't checked in two days. Multiple missed calls.
Julia. Kady. Julia again.
"Shit," Kai muttered. "What now?"
He turned and sped toward Julia's apartment. Something told him this wasn't going to be another magic lesson.
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