I saw the prompt ,
and not paying close attention I thought it was for the Live Journal Beginnings community. (Use the sentance exactly as given, under 500 words.)
So I wrote this one.
word count 485,
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."
part of the Blood Servants univers. Magge/Joseph
( http://nessa5.livejournal.com Look at the tags)

When I went to post it, I found out the prompt was for 100drabbles
Opps! So I'm posting it anyway.

I'm also using this for 100_prompts
Prompt #40, Chained



You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. But in the case of the horse being a newly wakened vampire nearly out of his mind with overpowering hunger, and the water is the man who had debauched his wife and is chained to the wall, gibbering in fright, it is not so much a matter of getting him to drink, than it is cleaning up the mess after.

The first hours of a new vampire’s life are an assault on the senses. They can hear the mouse in the wall or a conversation in house next door; their new vision is strange as parts of the spectrum they didn’t know existed are now visible. Not to mention the feel of wind on their face or the thread in their clothes. The new sense of smell is an overpowering surprise, and not necessarily a pleasant one, at least not until they get their first whiff of blood.

That smell of blood brings hunger.

Usually the first meal will have been provided by the sire. Some innocent tied up and laid out for the fledgling like a holiday feast. Some fledgling will balk at taking a human life, and they have to be coaxed into their first feeding. But with the first few drops of blood on their tongues, nature takes over. Others have no qualms and are eager to satisfy their new hunger.

The first victim is not going to survive, nor will the next five or ten. Controlling the hunger, to take only a little at a time, allowing the victim to live, takes practice and self-discipline. Eventually they learn how to keep their humans alive for months before they have to be disposed of.

Joseph first meal was beautiful. The man I had left chained to the wall for him after waking from his three night coma was the very same man who had a few years before seduced his wife. Joseph had walked in unexpectedly on the pair inflagranti, and in a rage, had killed the girl. The man had gotten away and Joseph had been unable to find him.

I had. It hadn’t been easy. But after seeing Joseph’s reaction to my gift, the effort had been worth it.

Even though the smell of blood had to have been overpowering, Joseph didn’t attack right away. The room was small, but Joseph stalked his prey, slowly, until the man recognize exactly who and what he was… he was almost relieved when Joseph yanked him up with one hand and sank his new fangs deep into his neck. Joseph bit deep and severed the carotid artery. A newbie mistake. Blood was everywhere! It is impossible to drink neatly from there unless the victim is already nearly drained.

The only thing that Joseph ever regretted when he came to his senses was that I made him clean up the mess.