A/N: I don't own NGE, that pleasure belongs to GAINAX. I do however love what they've done.

A/N: The following anime contains adult situations and contexts. Although it starts of slow, expect to see lots of graphic violence, plenty of foul language, lemon/lime content and blood… lots of blood… but considering this is about the supernatural does it really surprise you?

Many of the aspects of this story are loosely based on White Wolf's World of Darkness, but it is by no means a crossover or a direct rip. I hope you enjoy it.

I: Blood Stained Beginnings

The last moments of the day faded into shadow as Rei lay upon her bed. Her barren apartment slowly began to fade from sight as the last vestiges of Sol's light were stolen away by the coming night. None of this of course affected her in the least, apathy being a way of life for her. Her window was still opened from earlier in the day… she saw no reason to close it.

However there was someone (or perhaps more to the point, something) that smiled at the thought of easy prey. He had been watching her for a time and knew a lot about her. Mostly because his past and hers were closer than anyone could guess. He had waited for his opportunity to do this and now he had it. Opportunities were often hard to come by in Tokyo-3, and there were times one could seemingly wait forever and a day before one would choose to appear… if it ever did. So this man… this thing… decided tonight would be the night. As darkness completed its embrace about him, he made his move.

Inside the room Rei was lying on her back, breathing slowly and evenly. Only recently had she been allowed to return to her apartment after suffering her injuries during Unit 00's activation experiment, and her body still ached from the damage that had caused her. Since then the Angels had returned en force, and a young boy had taken the reins of the Test Type, Unit 01 which lessened her stress level greatly. A normal person would have thought this a boon, but to Rei, nothing really changed or even got better. If she had any thoughts at all about this boy, she certainly didn't show it. In the end, only the senario mattered.

So far two Angels had made their appearance, and both had been defeated by this child, this son of The Commander. Things were moving along in the scenario well now, and although even Rei barely understood her part to play in it, she understood that eventually it would no longer matter. As her mind began to dwell upon current events to analyze them and assure they were in line with what she understood about the scenario, her senses suddenly awoke. A feeling akin to being watched touched her, though unlike normal people, she wasn't startled by it... she was only annoyed.

There was a prowler in her apartment. She sat up wondering why someone would enter here... after all, she had nothing of value. She barely managed to stand up when suddenly she felt herself being thrown against a wall. Rei hadn't even seen her attacker until just now and she never saw him until they had both had stopped moving. The shock of the sudden movement didn't help her in the location department as she didn't even know where in her room she was at the moment. She knew she was still near her bed... it simply wasn't physically possible to move much further than that in such a short timespan.

She knew now that her attacker meant to harm her in some way. Of course, her apathetic nature wouldn't even allow her worry about that. Regardless of what horrors awaited her, she didn't care enough. The Commander would simply replace her if she was beyond saving when Section 2 found her. And so she didn't struggle as he grabbed the side of her face and pulled her head to the right. She did however yelp in surprise when the next unexpected thing happened…

Rei felt a piercing pain in the left side of her neck and realized her attacker was biting her. A wetness trailed down her neck onto her school shirt's collar before being cut off by a sucking sound. Her attacker was drinking her blood, and in her inexperience she did not know why, nor understand the siginficance of such a vile act. She only knew with clinical precision that if enough was lost, she would die. Already her sight was beginning to fade and sounds seemed more distant. Her breathing had become more shallow as she considered this, and a chill began to crawl up her body.

Idly, Rei considered the irony of being killed this way. Her first death was by choking at the hands of Naoko Akagi and it appears her second will also be a neck injury of some form. Soon, the room began to spin as dizziness and loss of full sensory ability indicated she had already lost too much precious vitae. She felt herself being picked up like a bride being carried over the threshold. It seemed almost pointless to Rei that her attacker treat her soon to be dead body with such respect, but as she had no voice left in which to inform him of the meaninglessness of his actions. She barely registered the feel of the soft bed beneath her as she was gently placed there.

Rei could barely perceive that her attacker was sitting on her right side as the lights dimmed fully. The last thing she felt was something wet being placed over her mouth as it began to tip open to expel the last breath of air she would ever take. Rei had accepted death but that death would not come for her. The moment the first drop touched her tongue her eyes flew opened with a sudden shock of energy. Her entire body felt like a foot or hand that had fallen asleep, but the pain was a thousand times worse. She shuddered as a hunger awoke in her. Whatever the liquid was, she needed it like an addict needed his fix.

Her hands flew up and grabbed onto whatever it was that was issuing forth the sweet liquid. It was the first time in her entire life that The 1st Child knew need, and it was consuming her like a wildfire. The precious liquid wasn't getting into her body fast enough so she sucked hard on whatever it was that was issuing it like a baby with a bottle. Her senses were dulled and on fire at the same time, nothing except the liquid existed… not her… not her attacker… not the likely still dripping wound on her neck…not The Commander… not the scenario… nothing.

Suddenly the source of the sweet liquid was pulled away from her, and the normally apathetic girl whimpered like an injured puppy. Her eyes began to clear and she finally got a better look at her attacker.

He was young looking, maybe in his early twenties and vaguely Japanese but mostly Eastern European. His eyes were red but more of a feral red rather than her crimson. His hair was blacker than the night and tied back in a single pony tail low on the scalp. He wore dark jeans, a black leather belt with metal studs and a black t-shirt. A trench coat, which he likely was wearing before sat on the foot of her bed, folded neatly and waiting for its owner. His left wrist had two puncture wounds in it and bled slowly.

Bled… to her horror she realized what she was drinking and quickly threw herself into the wall at the head of her bed. She couldn't understand why this suddenly bothered her, but something inside of her mind, like a primal aversion told her that something terrible had happened to her… something far worse than simple death. Her eyes widened as he smiled at her, showing a pair of elongated canines on his upper jaw.

"I see you are both awake and coherent now," he whispered in a chilling voice.

"Wha… what are you?" Rei asked. She couldn't understand why it was suddenly so difficult to form complete words or sentences. Was she experiencing fear? That was impossible, she had never been afraid of anything before.

"Nosferatu," he replied, a slight Romanian accent creeping into his Japanese. "Kindred… Vhampir. Though most know our kind simply as Vampires. We are the children of the night, living within the darkness and preying on the life blood of the living."

Knowing nothing of vampires, she took the man at his word. "What have you done to me?" she asked, sounding much calmer now, closer to her usual self. She was wondering why if she was feeling fear was her heart not pounding in her chest.

"You really know nothing of our kind do you Rei?" Her eyes widened at the realization that this person knew who she was. "I have baptized you in my blood. You are like me now."

"I'm… a Vampire?" she asked cautiously, watching this man nod in agreement with her. She had no true understanding of what had happened, only the aversion within her soul told her that this was wrong. "Who are you?" she demanded. "How do you know who I am?"

He laughed at her questions. "Believe it or not Rei, I used to work for the same agency you do. I was a technician assigned to Project E working with one Dr. Naoko Akagi." Her eyes narrowed slightly at that. Though she felt no animosity towards the doctor before, she suddenly became aware of how she truly felt about her. "I see you remember her. Though my relationship with her I discovered the truth about what Commander Gendo Ikari was planning to do." She wondered how he got someone as close to the Commander as Naoko Akagi to give up that kind of information. Did he have a close association with her, perhaps some kind of fratranization? Or did this... monster... have some kind of power over her?

"So I tried to stop it. I ended up getting hunted for my troubles. It was during this time that I met a man who told me he could give me the power to stop his insane scheme. He turned me and helped me fake my death. Now, I am putting a scenario of my own into the game." Rei could see where this is going. "You are my ace in the hole, the key to a controlled 3rd impact that can be averted. As you are now undead, you are unsuitable for his designs. But I will need to prevent Gendo from simply activating a new clone in your place. Based on that, you must continue to exist as you normally do."

"I don't have a heartbeat and my body is room temperature," Rei pointed out. "You will be hard pressed to convice Dr. Akagi that I am still alive."

"Of course," he said calmly, "which is why I'm going to teach you how to emulate a living being."

Rei suddenly didn't like where this was going, but a nagging feeling inside of her was telling her what this monster was planning was actually for the best. Perhaps all this time she was not doing the right thing. Perhaps she was just a tool after all.

"What makes you think I will cooperate with you?" she asked.

"Because Rei, you no longer wish to help Gendo." She thought about that and realized he was right. Being undead suddenly opened her up to new experiences and desires… desires that were previously repressed by upbringing and drugs. Now her life experiences didn't matter anymore and the drugs could not affect an undead mind. She could do as she wanted and live as she wanted. And if her feelings were correct about The Commander doing the wrong thing all along....

"It is a wondrous gift I have given you Rei… immortality… power… and freedom," he added. "Now your life will truly begin."

"I do not know what to do," she said after a moment.

"What do you wish to do?"

Rei thought about that a moment. "I still wish to pilot EVA, but not because it is expected of me."

"Oh? Then why?"

"I... do not know. Perhaps because it is what I was made to do."

"You can't fool me Rei," he said with a slight chuckle. "You actually care about the human race at large." She looked at him for a moment with a slight blush forming. He smiled at her warmly. "You wish to preserve them because you feel a kinship towards them, depsite your unusual genetic make up. And if you are worried about being forced to kill to survive, I have good news for you. You do not need so much blood as to kill an individual, unless you desire to turn them. And we vampires have the ability to affect mortal minds, tailoring memories or simply eradicating them when necessary."

Rei looked surprised by this realization. "Oh yes Rei, you now have command of many abilities… and I will teach them all to you. If… you are willing to learn."

Rei wasted no time with a response. "Train me."

2 Days Later

Water cascaded down her back as she leaned on her hands against the wall of her shower stall. Her life had changed dramatically in the past 48 hours, and she learned a lot from her "Sire" as she had come to call him. She learned that the superstitions about Vampires burning to ash in sunlight was an old wives' tale. It was not her normal time of day anymore, and other than the light becoming quite a bother to her, she was quite safe. She did notice that she did not feel as strong during the day, but still stronger than normal humans. To counter her light sensitivity, she purchased a pair of dark sunglasses. Though she couldn't wear them in class, they helped immensely.

What was causing her problems was figuring out her sleep schedule. She would take naps during the day since she was active whether she wanted to be or not during the night. Of course, she realized that the times she was required to be in NERV would further invade upon her ability to rest. It was a bridge she would cross when she got there.

Her head raised up as she heard a voice call her name. Rei's keen hearing, even over the white noise generated by the cascading water of her shower picked up the sounds, and she knew instantly that it was the 3rd child.

Shinji was nothing like his father; he was timid, fearful and introverted. She knew that this state was exactly the way Gendo wanted him, it made him easier to control. Her Sire wanted to derail The Commander's senario and Rei realized that a good way to accomplish such an ambitious goal was to put a spine in the body of the 3rd child. But how to go about that....

A mystery for another time. For now she had to deal with the fact that he was in her apartment. She turned off the water and grabbed her towel. Though her personality changed quite a bit since she was turned, certain things like modesty still eluded her. Since her Sire seemed to not care about that she paid no heed to such ideals.

When she exited into her apartment proper, tending to her still wet hair she caught sight of him wearing the broken glasses she had kept from the incident involving the activation experiment. Though she knew she should have disposed of such things, it would not do to advertise her sudden personality shift. So she did what she felt she would have done before…

Fear began to well up in Shinji's eyes as Rei's face turned to one of annoyance. She stalked towards the 3rd child, causing him to back off into the dresser. She plucked the glasses off his face just as Shinji lost his balance and began to fall forward. Rei wasn't expecting this, nor was she expecting his school bag to catch on the nob on her dresser causing the balance to shift faster. The next thing she knew, she was on her back on the floor with The Commander's Son on top of her. The draw had been removed from its confines and her panties were dumped all over the place.

The fall knocked the proverbial wind out of her, leaving her stunned for a second. Apparently, Pilot Ikari was just as stunned as he had yet to move from on top of her. Rei shifted and tried to get her bearings again as a sudden impulse of pleasure shot though her originating from her chest. She quietly moaned, not fully comprehending what caused it until she realized that one of Shinji's hands was currently all but squeezing her left breast.

Her cheeks suddenly became very warm and very pink. "P-please… move…" she managed to get out. When she was apathetic, the unwanted touch probably wouldn't have affected her at all, but with her humanity reawakened and the more animalistic side of her true nature always just below the surface, the event elicited a very different response.

Shinji looked down at his hand placement and freaked, jumping off of her quickly and simultaneously trying to stammer out an apology as Rei suddenly became very self conscious. She quickly got up and grabbed her towel, wrapping it around her in one smooth motion.

"Its ok," she whispered when he finally stopped stammering. "It was an accident."

"It still shouldn't have happened!" he cried. "I'm so sorry!"

"Pilot Ikari, stop apologizing."

"Y-yes…s-sorry!"

Rei suddenly smiled and chuckled lightly. Shinji had never heard that from her before and it took him completely off guard. "You just apologized for apologizing," she explained. "That seems a bit redundant."

Shinji realizing why she was chuckling, smiled sheepishly. "Heh, yeah I guess it is."

"Can you wait outside a second so I can get dressed?" she asked. "Or at least turn around?"

"Oh… of course…" Shinji replied. He was going to head outside then decided to just turn around.

"Perhaps there is hope for him," Rei thought as she retrieved one of her clean pairs of panties from the floor and began to put on a school uniform. Once this was done she said, "I'm decent now."

He was still nervous, she could smell the fear on him. It was faint but combined with the sound of his rapidly beating heart it was undeniable. She realized this was probably the first time he has ever seen a member of the opposite sex naked before. Perhaps it won't be his last either, she thought devilishly.

As Shinji turned around to see her again. Rei looked up at him, now sitting on her bed and asked, "What brings you here?"

Shinji thought for a second then looked down at his empty hands. A light seemed to turn on in his head and he retrieved something out of his pocket. "This," he said proudly.

She took the item from him at looked at it. It was a new swipe card for NERV.

"Right," she said absently. "Its been six month since the last one."

"We change cards every six months?" he asked.

"Security is important to NERV," she replied with a shrug. "I understand they are wanting to go to three month rotations if they can fit it in the budget."

"It seems a little excessive," he replied.

Inwardly Rei was smiling. His blood pressure and heart rate were slowing down which meant he was becoming more comfortable around her. She would continue to develop this level of rapport with him and slowly build his confidence up. Then he will no longer be Commander Ikari's pawn. If her sire wanted her to disrupt the scenario Gendo had laid out, she had ways of making that happen.

"Perhaps but it is not our place to judge," she countered. "I feel that it is a good thing. Perhaps it is a bit bothersome but overall it is a good system." She glanced over to her bedside clock. "I have to go to NERV for another activation test."

"You got hurt during the last one."

Rei looked down. "I have to try again," she said barely above a whisper.

"But I'm afraid you'll get hurt again," Shinji responded.

Rei looked at him and placed a hand on the side of his face gently. As much as she tried to convince herself that she needed him only for her Sire's scenario, it was obvious to her that she had feelings for him. "Shinji-kun," she whispered. The use of his name in such an endearing manner caused him to blush slightly. "I know you want to protect me from EVA. But EVA is important to the future of mankind. As much as you wish you could, you can not bare this burden alone. You saved me from having to battle the 3rd Angel despite the fact that you did not wish to pilot EVA. I may have to do the same some day. And I would do so willingly."

"A-Ayanami," he whispered as she smiled at him and made her way out of the apartment.

4 Hours Later

As Rei entered the plug, she noticed EVA 01 was on standby in case her EVA went berserk again. In way she was thankful for this. It meant if the EVA responded to her undead nature adversely he could stop it from completely destroying the testing center again. She wasn't worried about her own safety, more because she could easily regenerate from any injuries that didn't result in decapitation or a large wooden object being plunged though her cardiac muscle. Getting set in, as the plug closed around her she felt the plug begin to descend into the EVA before it began to fill with LCL. Rei never knew exactly what this stuff was but she knew it smelled like blood, a scent she found pleasing at this particular stage of her life.

As her head became submerged, she blew the air out of her lungs explosively. She didn't need to breath but she had to keep up appearances. But as soon as the liquid hit the inside of her mouth and lungs she suddenly found herself in the throes of a euphoric rush she was barely able to control.

Blood!

Blood!

Gallons and gallons of sweet, sweet blood!

It was all around her, she was literally swimming in it, and it was a potent mixture at that. The power of it made her shudder in delight as she fought to control herself. She knew that Dr. Akagi, Commander Ikari and the rest of the bridge crew could see her on their monitors. It took every ounce of willpower to keep her fangs in check and calm her body before she had a vampiric joy-gasum in her seat.

The bridge crew set about their task, initiating neural connections and monitoring the pilots vitals. Rei, was able to keep her body faking normal functionality enough to fool the computers into thinking she was a living being and not an undead bloodsucking parasite. Even while trying to keep control over her own body and keep herself from filling with total bloodlust by being submerged in what could only be the most pure blood she's tasted yet. As the neural connections became active and she was able to see outside the cockpit, she found her connection to her EVA was actually providing her with the clarity of thought needed to maintain a hold of herself. This was ironic to her as the last time she felt this close to it, it went completely out of control.

Finally, absolute borderline was passed and she and her EVA synchronized. She heard Ritsuko quote her at a 36% Sync Ratio and felt pleased with that. She made a show of it by "breathing" a sigh of relief. But as she did this, she heard the alarms go off. At first she thought her EVA got away from her again but then she heard Shigeru yell though the PA.

"AT Field detected!"

Ibuki quickly tapped out commands on her keyboard before also speaking though the PA. "Readings confirmed! Pattern Blue!"

"Rei, remain on standby," The Commander orders. "Deploy 01."

90 Seconds Later

Shinji inside Unit 01 shot towards the surface as Rei watched on her monitor inside her EVA. If something happened, she would be deployed and for now they didn't know what to expect. The Angel was a massive octahedron, an almost perfect geometric diamond-like shape. Within the next few seconds, he would hit the surface and face off against his 3rd angel.

"High energy reaction inside the target!" Shigeru called out.

Rei's eyes were plastered to the screen as a massive particle beam fired from the angel struck Unit 01 barely a second after it made it to the top, burning though layers of armor in seconds. Her heart almost stopped as she heard his screams of pain and panic. Pandemonium ensued on the bridge as they quickly recalled him, but despite the sudden unexpected attack, they managed to get him back before any major damage was dealt to the EVA.

The operation was canceled for now, allowing Rei to exit her EVA. She kept herself in check, but part of her wanted to run to Shinji that instant and make sure he was okay. Once she was released by the The Commander, she made a b-line to Shinji's hospital room. There she remained until he awoke.

Several Hours Later

Shinji awoke with a start clutching his chest with a free hand. It took him a second to realize Rei was with him and holding his other hand.

"Ayanami," he whispered. "What happened?"

"The Angel attacked you with a high powered particle beam of some kind when you emerged from the shaft." After a moment her eyes softened more. "I was worried."

Shinji had had little contact with Rei but he knew that she acted differently around him. It made him feel special that she showed this side of her only to him.

Rei tried to smile a bit but found that she was still worried about him. Just then her eyes drifted and she realized that they did not put him in a hospital gown when they put him to bed. Her cheeks turned visibly pinker as her eyes feel upon his bared body.

Shinji, noticing her sudden embarrassment, was puzzled at first and was more confused when she suddenly locked eyes with him for a second before turning away. Her checks now bordering on red. It was then that he looked down and with a short scream quickly covered his nudity.

"I guess this makes us even now," Rei said with a slight smile.

"Heh, guess so." A noticeable blush spread across his face.

After an uncomfortable minute, Shinji broke the silence. "So what happens now?"

Rei turned towards him and handed him a file. "This is the battle plan handed down by Captain Katsuragi. Operation: Yashima, I think she called it."

Shinji looked into the folder and saw the documentation. "A sniper? Clever."

"She is good at what she does," Rei replied casually. As she looked at him again, she felt his heartbeat rapidly beating despite the distance between them. Her eyes focused and she realized she could see the veins and arteries in his body. They were calling to her with every pulse. Her eyes visibly reddened though Shinji didn't see. In addition her canine teeth were starting to pulse in time with Shinji's heartbeat.

"I… I need to go," Rei finally said as she got up and began to leave the room. Any more of the stimulus and she'll change right in front of him. That wouldn't do.

"Wait! Ayanami!" She stopped. "Th-thank you… for staying with me until I woke up."

Rei smiled a little to herself. "If it makes you feel any better Shinji-kun… I liked what I saw." Her face began to redden further as she realized what it was she just said. She wanted to run out of the room but she didn't.

Shinji wasn't dumb. He knew exactly what she was talking about and the rising redness in his cheeks and the increase in his heart rate told her that much.

After a few seconds of silence he finally responded. "So did I."

End of Chapter I

Sanguis meus fervidus est, (My blood is fervid)

Sanguis meus avidus est, (My blood is greedy)

Sanguis tuus suavis est, (Your blood is sweet)

Sanguis tuus iucundus est (Your blood is joyful)

- from Bluthochzeit (Blood Wedding) by E Nomine

This chapter was re-edited on 11/27/2009.