Late September 1939, Westchester, Illinois
As Ivan walked down the street away from his school, he hoped that Nikolai, his father, had not seen him. It had been almost a month since he came to live with his estranged father, and he’d been beaten every night hence. He thought back his 5th birthday, when his father started beating on his mother and older sister, and him. He recalled how sad and angry he was when he learned his mother lost the baby she was going to have, and how happy he was when his father was gone. He heard a train whistle in the distance and shuddered, remembering that awful train wreck that changed his life. His mother and sister were dead, and he was stuck living with his abusive father again. Ivan finally reached the wildlife sanctuary that he’d been spending his evenings at whenever he could sneak away. As he always did, he buried his backpack in a pile of leaves so he wouldn’t have to carry it around. When he got halfway into the forest, he heard faint growling and yelping sounds. He followed the noise to find a large wolf caught in a poacher’s trap. Determined to set the beast free, he gently grappled with it, though it bit into his arm. He finally opened the trap, and the wolf ran off.
With a torn-off piece of his shirt, Ivan wrapped his wound and looked around for the wolf. “Thank you, Ivan,” a female voice came from behind him, “Levi is sorry about the bite, but now I know I can trust you.” Ivan turned to see the wolf sitting beside a ruggedly beautiful woman, her eyes glowing red in the failing light. “You’re…Werewolf?” he asked, more curious than frightened. “Silly human,” she chuckled, shaking her head, “You will learn that nothing is what it seems, especially where urban legends concerned.” “I don’t understand,” he tried to tie the makeshift bandage with one hand and his teeth while keeping an eye on the woman. He looked away only a second; then she was before him, helping him tie the knot. Ivan looked down at his arm, then up again to see her fiery eyes staring into his. “My name is Ferine,” she leaned forward and sniffed him, eyes half closed. “When I first saw you here, I planned to kill you for trespassing in my haven. But then you took your shirt off, and I saw the bruises and heard the tears,” she paused, stepped closer and put one hand on his chest and one around his waist; “And I wondered how anyone could harm such a beautiful, sensitive creature.” Still paralyzed by her gaze, Ivan could only breathe. “You risked your life saving my friend’s tonight,” she backed away, sensing how intimidated he was, “If you ever need a favor, just come to these woods and call on me. I’ll do what I can.” Ferine then knelt, fell forward, and disappeared into the ground with a rustle of leaves. “Forest spirit,” he whispered to himself, then winced as he remembered his tattered arm.
When he returned to the preserve entrance, Nikolai was waiting for him. “So this is your little hiding spot, ja?” he stumbled from his rusty, old truck and shattered an empty beer bottle on a post near Ivan, “What are you doing out here, anyways? Drugs? Or is this where you like to drochit'?” “Just leave me alone, Nikolai; I’m going home,” he turned away and headed for where he had hid his book bag in the leaves. “Not so fast!” Nik grabbed Ivan’s hurt arm by the wrist and held it up, “What happened here?” “It’s nothing,” Ivan pulled away, “Just some cuts, I’ll…” “Liar!” Nikolai backhanded him, knocking him to the ground, “Some wild mongrel bit you, careless mudack.” He reached into his truck and pulled out a shotgun, “Now tell me where it was.” “Ni khuya!” Ivan refused to give Nik directions on where he found the trapped wolf then ran back into the woods when he hit him again, “Ot'ebis', padlo!” As Ivan ran, he heard the woman’s voice again, “Is that the man who beats you every day?” “Yes!” he sobbed, still running, “I wish I were strong enough to fight back. I’d show that bastard how it feels.” “I can give you strength, Ivan,” Ferine and the wolf were running beside him, “I can give you a new life, but it will cost you.” “I’ll do anything,” his father’s drunken yells were faded, so Ivan stopped running, looked at the wolf sitting in front of him, and panted, “What do you want?” Ferine came around from behind Ivan, wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to the ground. As she bit into his neck, the ecstasy washed over him, and the darkness grew even darker, the cool earth colder, and all the noises of the night faded away. A sensation like falling upward came over him, and the cold darkness gave way to a warm, comforting light. Then his ascent came to an abrupt stop as some unholy force yanked him back down. With a gasping groan, Ivan sat up feeling as if he’d just been socked in the gut. But the pain he felt was different; a burning, passionate hunger pain that felt like it was eating away at him. “Good, you made it,” Ferine, along with the wolf, knelt beside him, “I thought I might have drained you too much to bring you back. I was quite hungry.” “Drain me? What…did you do?” Ivan stood up, adjusted his glasses, and looked around in awe. He could see perfectly well in the darkness, and the sounds of the forest were all crystal clear, especially that of his drunken father, bellowing Russian obscenities and stumbling through the undergrowth. “You’re a Gangrel now, Ivan. A vampire,” she took his hand in hers, “You have all the power of my blood. Go, now, to your father and exact your revenge.”
“Ivan! I’m leaving now!” Nikolai was now standing still as he called, “I cut my fuckin’ hand on something. Find your own way home, opesdol. We’ll finish this tomorrow.” “No, we’ll finish this now,” Ivan’s voice made Nik spin around in surprise. “Why you…” Nik stepped toward him and raised an arm to strike, but Ivan grabbed it and twisted it until the bones snapped. Nik cried in pain and fell to ground when Ivan let go. “How does it feel to be the victim, Nikolai?” he scowled down at his whimpering father as his rage transformed his hands into monstrous talons, “Byk govn'uk.” With one arm, he grabbed Nikolai by the neck and lifted him quite easily into the air; “Even an Arnold Schwarznegger like you can be beaten.” With that, he sunk his fangs into Nik’s arm and began to drink. With each draught, he felt himself grow stronger, until the grip he had on Nikolai’s neck was so firm that it crushed in, and his body fell to the ground. “Well done, childe,” Ivan heard his sire’s voice in his ear as he stared in horror at the expired head that sat atop his bloody fist. “What have I done?” he dropped the head and gawked at his hideous claw, covered in gore, “I just wanted him to suffer…hurt like he hurt me…but I killed him. Oh, Ferine, what’ll I do?” “It’ll be okay, childe, calm down,” she hugged him close and stroked his hair, “You no longer have to fear the laws of human society; you’re a vampire, now.” “But I killed him so…horribly,” he sobbed, ignoring Ferine as she licked the blood off his face, “I’m a murderer.” “He was never a real father to you, Ivan, so I don’t consider that patricide,” she finished cleaning him off and started walking him away from Nikolai’s corpse, “Besides, you’re immortal; you have forever to get over it.”

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