He was so ashamed of himself. If all of pain and suffering he has caused others throughout the centuries were all put together, it would not equal the remorse he felt now. There was only one being in the entire world he loved during his 1,700 years of walking this planet. Ever since he traveled with Helena to the Holy Land and stole the True Cross from the mother of the emperor, Eusebius had been cursed to never die and to only feed on blood.

And he had quenched his thirst often.

His teeth grew into fangs, his remorse shrank to non-existent, his blood-lust became insatiable.

He roamed the earth, never staying in any one place for more that 10 years. He literally been to every corner of the earth. There was a time he attempted to repent by isolating himself in the cold, but penguin blood proved delicious.

Eusebius had loved many women during his centuries walking the earth. But Sophia was the only one who was matched perfectly with every aspect of Eusebius’ life. While Eusebius allowed the others to grow old and die, only Sophia was worthy of joining him for eternity. The only way she could join him forever was if Eusebius used his fangs to both drain her blood, and give his blood to her. The bite was on her foot, a spot both thought would heal and conceal easily.

It worked.

Sophia soon feasted on the dead with Eusebius. They would sometimes enter villages and find the elderly, only to smother them to death, and then dig up the bodies after burial for food.

Sophia, however, was not cursed like Eusebius. He was cursed by Helena for his treachery and God struck him with eternal damnation. Sophia, on the other hand was not completely a vampire. Her heart could still produce human blood. Eusebius needed to feast on blood and the dead to stay young. His time at the bottom of the world he grew old and weak, but he felt endless pain and would never die. He lived a Greek tragedy. After decades of suffering and the end never arriving, he at first found decaying penguins and then hunted the flightless birds once he was stronger.

Sophia needed to be bitten again and again or else her human blood would overtake her system, and she would grow old and die. At first the bites were once a lifetime, then once every 25 years, and then once a decade. They measured by Sophia’s wrinkles and hair. Every new bite would erase the gray and smooth her skin.

The bites became so frequent they changed locations from the feet, to the hands, to the arm, to the legs, and finally it was decided to try the neck.

The fangs were too long, the carotid artery too close. Eusebius’ venom should only be in veins, never arteries. That artery supplies oxygen to the neck, face, and brain.

Almost instantly Sophia’s expression was of fear. She knew something had gone wrong. Her wrinkles accelerated, her hair whitened, he muscles atrophied. When Eusebius released, she was already dead.

Eusebius mourned Sophia for a full year, sobbing uncontrollably for three straight days.

In anger, in depression, in regret Eusebius tore out his fangs, vowing to never turn anyone again.