The Early Education of Ernie Biggs
From the journal of Ernie Biggs, Vampire

My name is Ernie Biggs. I've never kept a journal before, so I don't really know how to begin, but that doesn't really matter, because right now there are a lot of things that I don't know.

One of them is who, or what I am. Some nights ago, (I'm not sure how many) when I was on my way home from work, a strange man attacked me. He was as strange as they come, and probably not a man either. There's a lot of things that are very confused for me right now, but I know that his upper canines were long, and very sharp, like a vampire's fangs should be.

He bit me, in the throat. At the time I thought he was a psycho, and I think I'm only alive because of a freak accident. But something has happened now, and I don't know what to think.

I ran from that spot to a friends place, that friend is out of town for a while, so I thought it'd be a safe place to go. Home was obviously not an option. I passed out, for a day or two, I think, and I woke up about an hour after sunset. If it wasn't for the blood on my throat I'd have believed that the whole thing was just the result of eating something funny. That and one more thing convinced me that something happened.

My teeth have become like his. My canines as long, and I think they can be lethal if I bite someone in the right spots. There are other things too, strange things that I can't fully understand. All my senses seem more vibrant, more vivid. It's like I was blind, I was deaf till now. I'm afraid of hearing my favourite music, of seeing my favourite paintings, smelling my favourite foods. I'm afraid that I'll go into sensory overload.

But my appetite seems to have gone, completely. And while simple smells of food wafting up from the street are like multilayered symphonies to me, I don't seem to have any kind of smell about me.

Everywhere I look though, the world is simply far more alive than it used to be earlier. It's strange, but I never knew how much colour there was in the world, or saw how the shadows danced to make new patterns and shades and realities.

I tried to eat some chocolate I found in the fridge. I love chocolate, but when I ate some I vomited right away. Something is wrong with me. There's a slight metallic taste in my mouth. Was he really a vampire? Am I one now? Does being bitten by a vampire make you one too? Or is there some more complicated magic to it? The taste makes me think of the smell of blood. I think I should get some. How?

That's another thing. I don't know what I'm capable of. I know I'm stronger, and faster than I used to be, but I don't know my limits. I don't know what I can and can't do. And I don't know what will or won't hurt me. Simple experiments have shown that fire is completely harmless. And so is water. Both in limited quantities anyway. I don't know what would happen if I sat on a funeral pyre, and don't intend to find out.

I cut my finger with a knife, and didn't feel that either. But what if I was to be stabbed in a more vital part? Stabbing my hand and my thigh at least does not harm me. Through the heart? I don't know. I also haven't had the courage to try and dismember anything, so perhaps decapitation will kill me. I don't know. I just don't know.

Maybe I should just live out my whole existence here now. I don't know what could kill me. For all I know, the first thing I do once I step out will kill me. I'm trapped by ignorance.

I don't even know if sunlight can harm me. I don't dare find out. It is four in the morning now, and the sun usually rises at six here. Two hours to go. The call to sleep is getting stronger though. Maybe it's a survival mechanism.

I'm craving blood now. But I don't think I actually need to have it. It's more like chocolate. It's just something that I really want to taste. But I think I can go on without it. Why should I though? If I really am a vampire, then people aren't my kind anymore. It's in my nature to hunt and kill. That's what he would have done to me. He would have drunk all my blood and then twisted my neck off. I know, because that's what I'd do in his place.

Crosses don't hurt me though. I picked one up while searching for a pen. Why my friend has a cross in his worktable, I don't know, but it had no effect on me. Otherwise I guess I could've moved to China, or something like that. I don't know if I can kill someone, just because I like the taste of blood. Then again, maybe it is linked to my survival.

If I am a vampire, and I'm still not sure, then I need to try and find others like me. Even him. Someone needs to teach me what I need to do to survive. This is no good.

Almost dawn now, it's five thirty. I can barely keep my eyes open. Good morning world, it's time little Ernie Biggs slept.

Yes this is Ernie's diary. Yes his style is different from the other episodes. What can I say? Maybe that's something that evolved over years of being a vampire. Maybe Ernie expresses himself differently while writing. Maybe my perception of the way Ernie speaks is different from what it really is. Maybe I was just to tired to try and sound like Ernie. Who cares?