PFC Episode 1: Failure to Thrive

Paper Flower Consortium's historian, Loretta Fabron Onfoy, describes the initiation requirements to become a vampire and relates a story from 1903 a vampire, Walter Davidson, fails to thrive after a seemingly successful transformation. She answers a few questions about the initiation program. This program was sponsored by the PFC's very own: Photos Ever More.
Written and Performed by Elizabeth Guizzetti

For more information please visit: http;//elizabethguizzetti.com/paperflowerconsortium

Music and Sound Effects: 

Opening and Closing music:

Loretta's Theme by Evan Witt www.wittynotes.com

Sound Effects:

Drone - 010 by JarredGibb | License: Creative Commons 0

Horror heart beat 8bpm.wav by klankbeeld | License: Attribution

Heart.wav by frantramp | License: Creative Commons 0

Drone.wav by pointparkcinema | License: Creative Commons 0

Horror Pulsating Drone Loop by gerainsan | License: Creative Commons 0

Transcript

Paper Flower Consortium, Episode 1: Failure to Thrive Transcript

1.     00:00: Opening

 INTRO MUSIC PLAYING

 LORETTA:
 
Paper Flower Consortium, Episode 1: Failure to Thrive

Recording by Loretta Fabron Onfoy,  Lady of the former Kingdom of France, and the current Historian and Librarian of the Paper Flower Consortium

2.    00:30 Language is Changing

LORETTA: 

Languages change so much through the centuries as do the methods of recording ones thoughts and history. I fear the change that is coming to English.

Our initiation manual was written in 1917 and published in 1921. So many words have changed in the past century. In truth keeping our history has always been a fulltime occupation.

Old journals crumble to time, paper maks way to digital. There are and have always been change. The French I spoke as a girl is gone. My English is not so old, as I learned it in the 1940’s from our fledglings, but sometimes I know I sound like someone’s great grandmother trying to stay hip. So before English gives ways to Emojis or whatever our next dominant language will be, I have made an effort to record journal entries in order to show the next generation of vampires what it is to be a vampire in this modern world for fear we fall back into our old ways.  The old ways mean final death. 

So let us begin with the subject of transformation. People seek vampirism for fundamentally individual reasons.  Some came for eternal love, others for vengeance or a certain lifestyle, some to see what the future holds. 

While Gothic Fiction Films and Myths suggest vampires steal the soul of their victims and force them into eternity,  most vampires consent to vampirism. It is our greatest shame when a vampire is created without their blessing, still I will not lie and say that it doesn’t sometimes happen. 

The initiation education law was enacted in 1921, but by then most legitimate covens only allowed transformation with an individual’s agreement and instruction explaining the reality of our existence. Not just because immortality destroys ones’ former life, but it also dissolves any chance for an easy or culturally good death 

Before the initiation laws, the most common reasons for failure was the creator takes too much blood and the initiate exsanguinates before blood could be restored.

The law brought in other guidelines: initiates must be twenty-five years of age and weigh at least 110 pounds in the United States or 50 Kilos internationally. It is also suggested there is no more than twenty pounds difference between creator and creation which protects the initiate. Rebirths are now coven-wide affairs. Several vampires are present in order to ensure the initiate does not lose consciousness until death takes them. These guidelines has slashed fledgling mortality rates. 

All that being said, the transformation is still dangerous. Movies create the illusion that any human can be transformed into a vampire, that is simply not true. All creatures lose offspring and vampires are no exception. Many come to the coven believing eternal life is absolute, but the initiate must defeat death. This is why we inform all potential newcomers that some transformations fail.

 The biggest fear for any vampire progenitor is failure to thrive. We have no idea why it happens. Some believe, God, and I am not claiming any single God, but whatever God the vampire believes in,  sanctions our undead existence, 

Some believe in an intrinsic defiance against the natural order,  and some believe simple luck. The truth is no one knows. Those who shouldn’t have survived the rite, and they endure, while others perish. Most discussion around failure to thrive is filled with the fallacy that the vampire gently disappears into the night. But I mean to set the record straight, it is a horrifying experience for the creation, the creator, and their bloodline.

3.    04:32: Failure to Thrive

 LORETTA:

The Paper Flower Consortium experienced this agony in 1903, when my husband‘s lost his first Born, Walter Davidson, after his transformation.  

Walter’s conversion started off well. He had come to us under his own freewill after finding us in the telephone directory. A former solider, like my husband Charles, Walter sought an existence of peace. He looked at both of our first generation vampires, but chose Charles as his mentor due to the similarities in their history and dispositions. He was quite a jolly fellow and we all liked him. 

Charles was ecstatic. He was so excited to experience the connection between vampire and First Born. At that point Charles had been a vampire for two hundred and eleven years. I had my first born ten years prior and now that the coven was settled in the Seattle area and we were financially stable, Charles was thrilled to be chosen. 

Walter was twenty-nine and sound in mind and body on the night of his rebirth, he spent two years in instruction swore he looked forward to eternity. He did not tremble as he relaxed on the gurney which was covered with a thin mat and quilt for his comfort. As a Christian, he read a prayer to our shared God. 

BACKGROUND NOISE: HEARTBEAT

Charles opened Walter’s radial artery with his fangs and drank in his blood until Walter grew pale. Agata, a learned healer and the eldest of our number, listened to his pulse slow. As his consciousness began to fade, Charles stabbed himself in the chest and gave Walter his lifeforce. It seemed Walter drank deeply until flush with vampire blood, he lay back on the table in order to die. 

Charles stabbed him in the cartroid artery. 

BACKGROUND NOISE: HEARTBEAT STOPS

Walter’s eyes showed the agony of death, but that was to be expected. He didn’t have time to scream. Even the quickest death pains the direct bloodline. Jakub and Agata felt Walter pull existence away from them, seeking their gifts and their blessing. Jakub’s second son, Derrik, and Agata’s daughters, myself and Pascaline were immune from this pain, so we were there to assist. 

Agata signaled to us that Walter’s heart beat began to beat again.

BACKGROUND NOISE: HEARTBEAT

Walter awoke as a vampire a few minutes later. He screamed as most new vampires do. 

“Are you hungry?” Agata asked.

“Ravenous,” Walter said. 

Pascaline, Derrik, and I gave the fledging our blood until his complexion mimicked life. 

Once he was able to sit up, the coven’s two other young vampires, my son Xiao and Pascaline’s daughter Alice, brought him the flesh of animals, wine, and boiled sweets. We sang songs and prayed till the sun rose. We happily went to our coffins, the transformation seemed a success.  

However, the next night, Walter was not seen either at work or the public parlor. 

Charles, gifted with clairvoyance, knew his son was in his apartment so we went to check in on him. 

Walter’s thrall sat half dressed in the hallway. “He kicked me out,” she said.

She was not injured, she had not even been touched, so I told her to go on to our apartment. Our thralls will ensure you eat and give you a robe.

We gently knocked on Walter’s door.

He did not answer.

We knocked again. Still no answer. 

Charles turned the knob. It was unlocked. “Walt, it’s Loretta and I, are you decent?”

Walter, dressed to his waistcoat, sat at an east-facing window. He did not speak as we entered the room. 

He wore no jacket or tie, but he was dressed in a waistcoat. A cup of cooled blood sat on the table beside an unfolded newspaper. And I made a mental note to ensure my thralls took care of his until this was all sorted out.

“Walt?” Charles asked. 

No answer.

Charles pressed his hand upon his shoulder. “My son, what are you looking at?”

“The vastness of eternity,” he said in a slow cryptic voice. “It will never end.”

“What won’t end?” Charles asked.

“Wars. There’s another war.” Walter replied. 

I caught a whiff of musty death on his breath. Something inside him was rotting.

“But we will live in peace.”

Walter sighed. “Does that make us cowards? Not fighting anymore.” 

Charles glanced over at me, his eyes filled with apprehension. 

I said, “Walter, you are not a coward, nor is Charles or Jakub. You have all seen battles. Many battles.”

“But they don’t ever stop…” Walter said,

If I am honest, I knew Walter was lost, but we still attempted to save him. Charles was still weak from the transformation, but I had blood to spare.

“Do you need another infusion, Walt?” I asked.

“No, lady, thank you.” 

“I can bring a thrall to you?” I asked. 

“No, lady, thank you,” Walter repeated and looked out the window.

I asked: “Does your gift trouble you?”

He just said, “No.” But I could see the lie in his cold and empty eyes. 

I bled into a bottle and set it upon the windowsill with a cup.  “For when you get hungry, my husband’s son.” I bent down and kissed him. The rot smelled stronger as my lips pressed against his cheek. 

However, Walter made no move to take it. He sat and stared at the window which only casted the reflection of his clothing. The bottle of blood coagulated on the windowsill. 

An hour before dawn,  Charles closed the shutters, we retired to our coffin. My sweet husband tossed and turned that day. Though I was worried I held my beloved close and told him not to worry.

The next night, Walter was still unresponsive. The smell of decay was pungent in the same clothing he wore the night before. His eyes were no longer just empty, but they had lost their luster. They were milky. 

We phoned Agata and asked her to check on him. Though Walter was indifferent, his temperature was normal, his pulse was slow and steady as it should be, and his reflexes seemed typical. Not knowing what to do, Agata consulted the ancient vampires who ran Strawberry Fields, the Coven over in Bellevue. They did not have good news. 

Jakub cut open his wrist and pressed it to the other man’s face. Walter did not move to take it. He just sat there. 

Charles begged: “You’re my son. Don’t you know how much I love you?”

In a slow, hollow voice, Walter replied, “Outside is a city full of sentiments and anguish, yet it all feels so distant in the vastness of eternity,”. 

“Please drink! Just a sip,” Charles cried. Bloody tears crested his eyes and cascaded down his face. 

“Even your sadness is hazy, and you stand beside me,” Walter said in a monotone voice. We did not know those words would be his last.

By the third night, the smell of corruption and putrefaction filled the apartment.  

The wraith which was Walter just stared out the window. I tried to embrace him and coax him to take just a sip of blood, but his flesh squished under my hand like it was a bag of watery vitera. 

Walter’s muscles disintegrated until he flaps of loose skin sunk into the spindly bones underneath. As a lady of the court, my training kicked in and I forced myself not to vomit or show my discomfort.  

 Charles raged: “It is my lady’s blood, drink it. How dare you not drink it?”

Walter did not answer. 

On the fourth night, Charles opened his wrist again and begged him to drink. 

 The wraith which had been Walter, ignored the blood on my husband’s wrist and cheeks. He stared out the window into the night. As he had done every dawn, Charles closed the shutters and we returned to our coffin to a day of not sleeping in worry. 

 I tried to sing Charles a sweet song to comfort him suddenly Charles shrieked and pushed me away. 

“Run, Loretta!” he shouted and tried to slap inexistent flames from his body. I moved out of the way of his thrashing limbs and rolled onto the floor before I realized his nerve endings were on fire. 

Bloody sweat stained his pajamas and coated his hair and beard.

I ordered the thralls to fill our bathtub with cold water and we struggled to get my husband into it as he shrieked. When he was coherent, Charles claimed that I should run from him and the hideous day. 

At one point, he tried to order me that he didn’t want me to see him so weakened and didn’t want me to remember him so scarred and burnt. 

I did not leave my husband’s side as the connection between he and his son was torn asunder. It took hours. Pascaline brought me ice for Charles and then went to assist Jakub and Agata who also suffered.  

Charles hugged the ice and rubbed it on himself until his skin blued, blistered, and cracked. And yet he still felt the heat as Walter burned.

I tried to dominate his mind, but he kept repeating: “I see my son, his rotting flesh is burning, his rotting flesh is burning!”

Not knowing what else to do, I finally cried: “Then sleep!”

Charles collapsed from agony and exhaustion, I wiped my beloved’s brow with cool water and washed the blood away  And too soon he had woken again. 

 Charles was strangely quiet and distant. He stared at the ceiling, but his expression was cold, and hollow, and haunted as Walter’s expression had been, so I shook him and cried, “Don’t you dare leave me, Charles Onfoy!”

 He blinked and looked at me. “I think….I think Walter is mostly gone. Perhaps his brain has been destroyed. There is no pain, just wretchedness. But it still hurts.”

 “What should I do?” I asked him.

 Charles put out his hand so I helped him out of the tub and into a fresh sleepingshirt. I sat on the sofa and ran my fingers through his hair until Walter’s soul was freed from his body.

 Charles wept for a long time until finally, he fell asleep. This time naturally. After the sun moved across the building, and it was safe to do so I collected the ash. It sits in a silver urn on top of our china cabinet. Surrounded by silver Walter will be safe forever.

 The rug and all of Walter’s clothing and most of the upholstered pieces were later burned. The janitor needed to do several applications of lemon juice and wood oil to get the smell of decomposition out of the apartment’s floors. 

 As Walter’s thrall was heterosexual and did not wish to leave the coven went to stay with Jakub.

 My beloved never forgot his First Born. He blamed himself for decades. He didn’t trust that his blood wasn’t somehow wrong. In his pain, he sought answers thought there were none. He read hundreds of books. He wrote to one of our ancient ancestors for advice. One actually replied, “We all have had fledglings who failed to thrive.” As if that was supposed to bring Charles any comfort.

 The only consolation Charles ever found is that in his immortal memories of the two years which he and Walter had before the transformation and the belief his son’s soul has gone on to heaven. It was fifty years before my beloved tried to create another vampire thankfully that transformation was successful.  

4.    17:03 A Word From Photos Evermore

LORETTA:

Now a word from our sponsor: 

 This history was brought to you by Photos Ever More, a proud subdivision of the Paper Flower Consortium. 

 Are you an initiate concerned that a creature of darkness is unable to reflect light and therefore unable to be caught on film and digital photography? 

 Photos Ever More records your photograph for posterity, future documentation and identification. We even can future-proof your Instagram or Facebook Page with a hundred glamorous selfie-style photographs which we can photoshop into your future vacation, dogpark, or dining pics! Affordable packages based on your needs. 

Jingle: Before you stop reflecting light forever, think Photos Ever More!

Visit us on our website to schedule an appointment tonight!

5.    17:52: Follow Up Questions

And now I will field two follow-up questions from our initiates: The first one asked:  What is Agata’s Bloodline Mortality Rate? 

Now, I will start off by admitting that Agata’s bloodline mortality rate is skewed badly You see, errik’s First Born, William, who experimented on over 100 humans in the 1951, He wanted to create an undead army. Only one of his experiments survived—and by all rights she shouldn’t have. However, these were not coven-sanctioned initiations. So if you remove William’s experiments, we have approximately 3% Fledging Mortality Rate from the Bloodline of Agata. 

 And the second initiate question asks: who can be infected with the vampire virus?

 Please understand that the ability to transform and the ability to legally transform are two different things.

Before the 1921 Initiation Laws forbade such things: many vampires created beloved working animals or pets from mammals. I personally have only seen one: a beautiful warhorse who lived over two millennia.  

Reptiles do not seem to be infected, or if they can be, they die quickly. This is perhaps it is because they need the warmth of the sun to function. This is unclear to us.  

Insects and birds also don’t seem to survive the transformation. Or if they do, they die the first time they take flight. Though people relate bats to vampires, bats also probably would not survive the transformation.  

Though occasionally we have heard of hybrids between werewolves and vampires, prevailing science shows that to be a rare phenomenon. In practice, werewolves can die if infected by vampires and vampires also die when infected by werewolves.

 Merfolk seem to be immune from the virus. And the Fey are more immortal than we so there is no reason for them to wish to be vampires.

 Legally, what that means is, only humans can be altered into vampires. 

 However, as I said before, they must be 110 pounds, 25 years of age, and educated and =have a full medical workup before they are altered including checking for any other transformational viruses such as those that might turn them into werewolves or zombies. 

 There is one more point I’d like to make. When dealing with witches—which of course are humans--the transformation is more dangerous than most. Latent abilities become quite active and training becomes obligatory. 

 As you may know, Derrik and all of his offspring have been witches. Their powers of the mind, though useful are also quite dangerous the the coven and at one point we had to decide if we should cauterize that branch of the bloodline, but that is a story for another time.  

 I hope you found tonight’s episode useful and educational. Good Day, beloved initiates, and Sleep the Sleep of the Dead. 

6.    21:07 Closing:

OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING

The Paper Flower Consortium Podcast was written and performed by Elizabeth Guizzetti. You can learn more by going to http://elizabethguizzetti.com/paperflowerconsortium

If you have a question for Lady Loretta, please click the Ask Lady Loretta button or email her at info@paperflowerconsortium.com

 The intro and outro music was written by Evan Witt, and you can find his music at www.wittynotes.com

Thanks for listening.