Nessa, the vampire, starts off the interchange.
"I was lonely, and I sought an interesting and attractive man and decided to let events take their own course.” She paused, lowered her eyes, and remained that way for a long time. Then her gaze sought mine. “It was never my intention to fall in love with you.”
“Love? What we've shared is lust. You haven't expressed feelings, at least verbally,” I said. “From the moment we met, events never took a natural course. You were the sexual aggressor controlling me from the start.”
“You need to take responsibility for your actions.” Her tone stabbed me like a sharp saber. “You made a choice when you responded to my smile and sat beside me. Whatever responses I evoked are part of your nature. My behavior was provocative, but I never apologize for whom I am. You’re an adult. You know the risks you take when you meet a stranger in a bar. Especially when she tells you she's a vampire.”
Her eyes, flat and hard, presented a side of her that I hadn't seen before.
I took a deep breath and met the measure of her gaze.
Nessa stood there, hands on her hips, staring defiantly at me. Now that I saw beyond her beauty, I could recognize her strength in living a life she never chose. I stood at a crossroad few men ever experienced. What I said next could decide the rest of my life. “I love you, but I have no idea how we can become more than lovers.”
http://neilbenson-horrorandfantasyauthor.blogspot.com/p/unholy-embrace-by-neil-benson-first.html
First three chapters
Let's assume that vampires, the undead kind, are real. When I first started writing Unholy Embrace, I was told by my editor vampires are by definition "evil." My response was to posit a question. If a sixteen-year-old who had never committed a mortal sin, and very few venal ones, was turned by a vampire, why would this person become evil? The response I received stated that if a vampire took the life, or the blood, from another person that made the vampire evil.
However, in recent years, we have seen movies such as Underworld, where the vampires ostensibly did not consume human blood. The vampires in the movie Underworld were a pretty rotten bunch and it would be hard to make a case they weren't evil. For some time, vampires have been able to obtain human blood from blood banks. Ergo, no need bite someone in the neck, lethal or otherwise.
So, if a young woman or man, living a virtually "pure" life, was turned into a vampire at the present time, there would be no need for this person to take blood from a mortal. Clearly, if a vampire kills, then the vampire is evil. However, this would be true of a mortal who commit murders. Without committing any acts that harm a mortal person, it seems to me that the vampire cannot necessarily be considered evil by solely by being one of the undead.
I'm sure that many people would tell me that I have oversimplified the issue or question. If I have, then I would like to hear the "complete" explanation of why a vampire would necessarily be considered evil.
http://neilbenson-horrorandfantasyauthor.blogspot.com/p/unholy-embrace-by-neil-benson-first.html
Frank ponders an emotional commitment to a vampire
After leaving her apartment, I was outside walking toward Central Park within five minutes. If I took too long to decide, our relationship would end. Nessa had been lonely for over four hundred years. She made a choice about me, perhaps impulsively, but now I knew how much I meant to her. She would be devastated if I rejected her, and I had no wish to be the cause of such pain. But I also needed to consider the risks involved.
I walked along the outside of the park until I found myself in front of the Museum of Natural History. For all the information it contained, it didn't have displays about creatures the visitors were better off not knowing. Nessa, werewolves, and demons didn't exist in any of the museum's catalogs. However, she was also a woman, one that aroused the strongest feelings I had ever experienced. Should I make a commitment based mostly on feelings? I was always so rational. To go with her was to step into the unknown and far beyond my comfort zone.
When I looked at my watch, I saw five hours remained until dawn. For once in my life I decided to go where my heart led. I walked south until I hailed a cab, and in a few minutes I was back at her apartment. The strong need I felt to be with her contrasted with how I felt two hours ago. Time is not measured in minutes or hours but by the manner in which we experience our lives. When I stood in front of her door, I knew my decision.
http://neilbenson-horrorandfantasyauthor.blogspot.com/p/unholy-embrace-by-neil-benson-first.html
Link to first three chapters
