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Ivory the bat was asleep in the attic of her home when a horrible hissing noise caused her to toss and turn in her sleeping bag. She blinked and her eyes met with a sight she dreaded waking up to every day: the red eyes of a giant spider in the opposite corner of the room and its increasingly thick webbing. Ivory had no idea why there was a giant spider in the attic, they normally made their webs in dark forests where they'd have plenty of room for it, and she was too scared to try and make it go away, so she slept in one corner of the room, hoping the spider wouldn't bother her if she left it alone. At least the sleeping bag was very comfortable.

Ivory didn't have the greatest childhood. Of her mother's three children, she was the eldest, but of a different father than her sisters. She knew little about her father except that he'd disappeared when she was young and her mother didn't like talking about him. Ivory had pure white hair and bright red eyes, and sunlight seemed to make her uncomfortable and even exhausted. If she had to guess, her highly unusual appearance and condition - whatever it was - was a strain on their relationship, but she could never get answers.

She wasn't looking forward to another night like this, either. She slept in the day and would wake up at night, take care of chores, eat something, try and see if something interesting was going on in town at night, and generally find something to do before sunrise. And the giant spider made returning to bed even worse. Though, it'd never hissed at her to wake up like this. Nor had it ever started crawling towards her, as it was on that night. Ivory gulped and scrambled to get out of the sleeping bag, but she was stopped as the spider suddenly TALKED.

"I apologize for the rude awakening," the spider said in a feminine voice, still crawling. It raised one leg as its eyes glowed and a long, silk-like yarn shot out of the spider's leg and wrapped around Ivory's mouth, tying it shut just as she was about to shriek. "Ah ah, don't want to make noise, now," the spider teased.

Ivory whimpered as she turned away and hid in the sleeping bag, her voice muffled as the spider was looming over her.

"Don't be frightened, sweetie," the spider said, petting Ivory with her leg, "I only want to talk...we've been in the attic together for some time and I thought it might be time to speak to you." The white-haired bat was still shivering in the sleeping bag. "Well I am happy you at least like the sleeping bag I weaved for you. Ah, I know what to do."

As Ivory processed what the spider had just said, she felt the sleeping bag lift off the ground, the giant spider now carrying her over to its web and hanging it from a thread tethered to the ceiling. She felt herself sink to the bottom of the bag, thinking it might snap and she'd fall, but it dangled from the ceiling, not once showing any signs of falling. She was surrounded by the soft silk, and it was actually rather comfortable, but she decided to poke her head out the top, and saw that the spider was resting comfortable in its web, watching her.

"Do you like it?" the spider asked, tapping the sleeping bag teasingly, "I have quite the talent with silk thanks to my magic. A normal spider couldn't do this!"

Ivory mumbled something that couldn't be heard as thread was still tied over her mouth. "Now dear, do you promise to remain calm and talk?" the spider asked the still somewhat frightened bat, who shivered and nodded silently. When she did, the spider removed the threads and allowed her to breath again.

"Wh-what exactly are you?" Ivory shivered.

The spider smiled, showing off its sharp fangs. "I...am a vampire," it said, making Ivory blink. "Yes, yes, I know," the spider said quickly, "Meeting a vampire is one thing, but a vampire spider, now that must be a rare sight, but anything that bleeds can become one."

Ivory gulped. "S-so I've been sleeping next to a..." she trailed off.

"Yes, I have been watching at the behest of my lady," the spider said, "I suppose I make a good SPY-der." Ivory had to force a slight giggle at the pun. "Now, you have not led the happiest life, my lady knows this. If you come with us, and learn of our kind, I believe you will find we have more to offer."

"Y-you're not gonna..." Ivory said, shaking, "T-turn me into one...?"

The spider rubbed her back with one of its legs. "No, sweetie...not if you do not wish me to," the spider said. "So, I take it you've heard something of our kind?"

"J-just that you...uh...bite," Ivory muttered.

The spider couldn't hold back a giggle. "Would you like to feel it for yourself? I've just realized I'm a teensy bit hungry. I promise it won't hurt."

Ivory gulped and figured she didn't have a choice. "G-go ahead," she whimpered. The spider used one leg to move her hair aside, revealing her neck. It ran the tip of one other leg along her neckline, looking for just the right spot, and let out a hissing noise before sinking its fangs into her. Ivory gasped at the piercing, but the pain lasted only an instant. The spider seemed to know just the right spot to bite so that it would feel strangely pleasant, even as a small amount of blood was sucked into the spider's fangs.

Almost too soon, the fangs lifted, and the spider wrapped the puncture wounds in more thread. "My apologies, spiders don't have tongues so I can't lick you clean," it said. "Now then...first lesson...vampires use blood as fuel for their magic. Allow me to demonstrate." The spider raised one of its legs. Thread shot out of it at an incredible rate, wrapping and tying itself at an incredible speed, threading itself in the shape of a giant plush pumpkin with wheels. "We shall ride to my lady in style - if you wish to go, of course. I will continue my story on the way."

Ivory thought to herself for a minute. She was unsure whether or not to actually go with all of this, but there wasn't any benefit to refusing that she could see. She silently nodded. The spider smiled and held Ivory in six of its legs, using the other two to pull open a seam in the pumpkin and slide the both of them inside, closing the seam once they were both inside. It wasn't at all cramped, and it was very soft inside, the fluff keeping their bodies warm. Ivory smiled as the pumpkin started to roll down the stairs and out the door without anyone noticing.

"Now then sweetie, this is not a very happy story, but listen to the beginning of vampires in this world..." the spider began.

----

To understand the origin of vampires in our world, one must understand the concept of magic. Yes, magic, the act of changing reality around you with a few words and your own willpower. What goes unseen in most spells is the reagent, a physical element of some kind, that reacts to the words and willpower. Reagents are how magic was developed in our world, and many items are produced containing such reagents. Cards, staves, books, anything you can carry with you.

Different kinds of magic are possible depending on the reagent. Our story begins with a mage, a bat to be precise, who sought magic that could give him immortality. Many believed it a fool's endeavor. But this mage would eventually discover such magic was possible. The reagent for such a spell? His own blood. In other words, by using the blood in his veins, he could indeed cease to age.

Well, he couldn't do it with common blood, no. He needed to remove the iron. Iron, interestingly, blocks you from using whatever it's in as a reagent. A warning sign, perhaps? Well, it turned out that removing the iron in all of his blood had a nasty side-effect - his body could no longer produce blood. So he ceased aging, but would only do so for as long as he still had iron-less blood. But there was one way to fix it - he just had to consume blood from other sources.

And so this mage became the first vampire, a being that becomes immortal for as long as they consume the blood of the living. The blood magic, as it would come to be known, also enabled him to change his body in subtle ways. He added fangs to his teeth, and greatly enhanced his wings. But this power came with weaknesses. The most famous is the vulnerability to sunlight. His skin had been weakened such that the sun could burn him very quickly. He was forced to sleep during the day. Furthermore, wood damaged him more seriously than normal.

Worse, people did not like this person who only came out at night and would steal your blood. He was unlike anything they had seen, and it frightened them. The first vampire realized he would need help to secure a steady flow of blood for the coming centuries. And so, he took this immortality, this magic, and "gifted" it to others. No, that is the wrong word. He FORCED it on them. He believed they wouldn't accept it willingly, so he cursed them with it. They were enchanted with spells they could not remove themselves. They had no choice but to assist him.

Thus, though these vampires formed a secret group that would sneak around and pick out the best locations to prey on mortals, they harbored a mutual disgust for this mage that had cursed them to either prey on their fellow mortals, or die. They schemed against him, at one point believing that if he were to meet an untimely demise, the curse would go away. And their opportunity soon came.

It was around this time that the Chaos Dragon began to rise. This dragon had consumed the blood of a divine being and gone mad from it. The other vampires convinced their "sire" that this was a golden opportunity, for if they could get that blood, all their problems would be solved. Of course, the Chaos Dragon was, well, a little more powerful than even the first vampire was prepared for. He struggled against the dragon and was ultimately incinerated.

Though, in a twist that's interesting to think about, before burning him, the dragon managed to drink the vampire's iron-less blood. This had an effect nobody could have predicted; It gave the dragon similar vampire powers...and similar weaknesses. This was balanced by the divine blood, the dragon wasn't exactly going to burn the next morning, but she now had vulnerabilities that ultimately enabled her to eventually be defeated. It's an interesting irony.

As for the vampires that remained, the curse didn't go away. They tried their best to live as they could, sleeping where the sun couldn't shine in the day, taking the blood they needed that night. Some eventually entertained the thought of turning more into vampires, primarily those who would benefit the most and suffer the least. There were many power struggles between then and now, but nowadays, vampires are far less misunderstood, and not regarded with as much fear. They operate during the night, keeping the world safe and running smoothly in the day.

----

Ivory shivered in the grasp of the spider as she listened to all this. "I, ah...well, that is...not the happiest story," she muttered, "But what does it have to do with me?"

The spider's legs lovingly rubber her as the pumpkin carriage was headed down the road. "You see...we thought it was impossible for vampires to, well, give birth," the spider whispered softly, "But your father was in love with a mortal, so he found a way to...make that happen. Do not be frightened," the spider noted Ivory's horrified look, "But you seem to have inherited parts of the curse. You feel uncomfortable in the sun, yes? Teeth are sharp, pale hair, an aversion to garlic?"

"Well, yes," Ivory meeped, "Except that last one."

The spider chuckled. "Of course not, that was a bit of humor on my part. I was allergic myself a long time ago. No, at any rate. You being born seemed to strain the relationship your parents had, according to your father."

"Where...where is he?" Ivory asked quietly.

The spider smiled. "He will be in the castle with my lady. You can see him. Talk with him. See how he's felt all this time. Then decide if you would like to join our kind. How does that sound, sweetie?"

Ivory smiled. "I-it sounds good." She nuzzled her new friend as the pumpkin carriage came to a stop at the castle.