December 24, 2009

It’s Christmas Eve. I regretfully found no good way to see my family. I used work as an excuse. I feel bad about missing another holiday but I don’t think “Hey, I am a vampire” is the kind of Christmas greeting they want. But to my faithful readers…er…reader, Merry Christmas. Hope it’s better than mine.

But now, onward we must go. I promised I would finish the story that led to my long absence from the world wide web. Now, I must admit, parts of this are as clear as if they happened twenty minutes ago and some of it is not so clear, like looking through glass smeared with mud. I will try to do my best to make it coherent though.

I believe we left off about two hours before sun-up on…

Sunday, December 13.

I was completely shocked and horrified by the sudden appearance of the Dark Man in my car. I leapt against my car door, trying to keep the distance between us as far as possible.

He smiled that evil grin of his and laughed at me. He laughed for almost a full minute, loud guffaws at my expense. “I can’t believe you did that! I guess you aren’t trying to hold on to mortality as much as I thought! Killing an innocent! I never would have expected that!”

I shuddered as he began to laugh again. My entire being was filled with shame and fear. I yelled at him senselessly, trying to get him to shut up. But his laughter only grew at this. Frustrated I flung my car door open and began to step out. In what must’ve been less than a second my head was pinned against the back of my seat.

The Dark Man reached across me and pulled the door shut. He moved his face within an inch of mine. I could smell him. He was musty and smelled of dirt and rot. “Were you just going to leave her there? Were you not going to clean up the mess you just made?” he sneered at me.

“Don’t you see what you could’ve done? You would have led them right to you. A dead body, fang marks on the neck, footprints, fingerprints and probably even cameras. Such a rookie mistake,” he laughed.

Moments later we were standing at the scene of my crime. The Dark Man surveyed the area with glee. He took a walk around the area, moving in a wider circle around the body each time. He came back to me and declared that he had found no cameras that had borne witness to my feeding. Then he turned to me and smiled again. “Now, get rid of the body,” he ordered.

I looked down at the body on the ground. I looked around me, confused. What was I supposed to do with it? I looked at him with the question in my eyes.

“Must I do everything for you?” he groaned. He walked over to the body and knelt next to it. He placed one hand on the foot of the corpse, and his other around the calf. He gripped hard and then pulled his arms in opposite directions. The foot dislodged itself from the body with a sickening slosh and crack.

I turned my eyes to the side, trying not to vomit. I watched with horror as The Dark Man split the body into sections. Within five minutes the security guard was nothing but a pile of flesh. Luckily I had drained the guard of all but drops of her blood. This made the area a lot less messy.

The Dark Man stood up from his work. “This is why you shouldn’t kill anywhere there isn’t an easy disposal location nearby. Lakes, ponds, graveyards with open graves, slaughterhouses…all good locations,” he explained.

I cringed at the last one. “Slaughterhouses?” I asked. He rolled his eyes. “After you’re done, just split the body and throw it in with the other useless bovine parts,” he explained, “Now, take these pieces to your car.”

I held back my gags as I gathered body parts into my arms and delivered them to my car. I didn’t have a bag so I dropped them into the trunk. It took me three trips but eventually I had the entire body in my trunk. The Dark Man helped me walk the area and brush away any footprints left at the location of the scuffle.

When we were done we drove to a nearby convenience store and bought a roll of duct tape and some garbage bags. The Dark Man then instructed me to drive down to the lake. I put the pedal to the metal as I could see the light threatening to break over the horizon. I could feel the sun coming.

At the lake, we parked and wrapped the body parts into garbage bags along with the largest stones we could find. Then we taped the packages as tightly as possible.

“Now what?” I asked. The Dark Man grabbed three of the packages and said, “Now we swim.” He carried the parcels to the edge of the lake. I watched him strip out of his clothes, pick up the packages and leap into the cold water. After what seemed like 3 minutes he came up again. “Go down as deep as you can and try to wedge them into the lake floor.

I stripped out of my clothes and followed suit. After two trips the body was safely stowed away at the bottom of the lake.

After we dressed again, I stood by the lake for a moment. I thought about the woman’s family. I didn’t know her situation and had no idea who was waiting for her at home. I only knew that they would wait forever and she would never come.

The Dark Man let me have a moment, something I am surprised about, now that I think back. Then he came up behind me. “We must go now. The sun will be up soon.”

We got in my car and I began to head home. He stayed silent until I was about to exit to go toward my apartment complex. “Stay straight,” he instructed me. “Wait, my apartment is…”I started. “We aren’t going to your place. Irma wants to see you,” he smiled.

“Who’s Irma?” I asked.

“You’ll see,” he answered smugly.

We drove for about fifteen minutes. The Dark Man pointed out each turn. We finally came to a stop in a small residential neighborhood. The lawns were neatly trimmed. BMWs and Mercedes Benz were parked in each driveway. But our target was a quaint yellow house with white trim. Flowers were planted in boxes along the windows. A miniature windmill turned in the breeze and an American flag flapped from its location on a pole from the front porch columns. My grandmother could have lived here.

The Dark Man led me to the door and rang the doorbell. There was the sound of movement inside and then the door cracked just a bit. “Who is it?” a voice asked from inside. “It’s me,” the Dark Man answered flatly. The door swung open to reveal a diminutive black woman with huge reading glasses perched on her short nose.

“Hello, Velma, is Irma still awake or has she retired?” The Dark Man asked.
“She has just gone downstairs,” she said as she glanced at the slowly brightening street, “ You two better come in.”

We stepped into the hallway of what seemed like an average American home. It was complete with knick knacks, umbrella stand and family pictures. I almost laughed at sheer ridiculousness of it all. Vampires just didn’t fit into these surroundings.

“You can take the spare rooms in the cellar. I will wake you up at 8pm,” Velma said as she opened the closet door. I followed the Dark Man as he stepped into the closet. We brushed through a collection of coats and boxes and pushed through a false wall in the back.

We stepped into a dark hallway lit only by night lights that were plugged in every few feet. We walked about ten feet and then the Dark Man pointed to a door to my left. “You can sleep in there. It’s light proof.”

I nodded and stepped through the door. I looked around the room. It was dark and I could barely make out the furnishings. I saw a bookshelf in one corner, covered in cobwebs. A desk and chair sat in the opposite corner. I turned back to my companion. “Where’s the bed?” I asked.

He pointed to a third corner and I shuddered. It was a coffin. I looked at him and with horror in my eyes. Surely he wasn’t serious! “Yes, it is a bit old fashioned, I know. But it’s surprisingly comfortable,” the Dark Man said. I stepped forward and looked in the coffin. It was lined with cushiony velvet. I didn’t know how this would be comfortable. I leaned down to feel the lining.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my back and I tumbled into the coffin. I tried to turn over and put my hands up but it was too late. The lid was shut on me. I heard the Dark Man laughing outside. “Sleep tight,” he screamed through the coffin walls and I heard a lock turn and latch. I pushed against the walls of the coffin. I pushed at the lid. I kicked and screamed. But it was to no avail. I was locked in.

I was soon sound asleep.

Some time later, I was awakened by sounds outside of my coffin prison. I heard voices. It was the Dark Man. I couldn’t make out what he was saying. But then I heard a woman’s voice. It was an older woman. It was not the Velma that I had met earlier. She sounded like she was ancient, her voice raspy and quiet. I tried to make out what they were saying. I held my breath and I heard them begin to move out of the room. As they passed my coffin I heard the old woman say “A week should suffice.”

And then silence.

I managed to bring my hands down to my sides and I felt something bulging in my pocket. It was my cell phone! My first instinct was to call the police. But could I do that? How would I explain my condition? Who could I call?

After five minutes of twisting and turning I managed to pull the phone from my pocket and bring it up toward my head. I flipped the phone open and the display lit up the inside of the coffin. The display was bright and hurt my eyes in the darkness. After my vision was clear I looked at the display. It read: Sunday 12/13/09 11:30pm. In the upper right corner of the display were the words NO SIGNAL. I looked at the battery life. It read 78%. Luckily, I had charged my phone after I had found it.

I closed the phone and lay in the darkness. The hours passed slowly. I checked my phone often at first and then as the time passed by, less and less. I began to fade in and out of consciousness. Everything seemed to blur and I was lost in my thoughts.

Every time I felt…”right”…I checked the date and time on my phone, only leaving it open for seconds in order to conserve the battery. I watched the days pass.

Monday 12/14/09 10:15pm

This is when the calls came. I tried to answer but the signal was too weak and calls were disconnected immediately.

Tuesday 12/15/09 1:08am

This is when the thirst hit me first.

Thursday 12/17/09 9:22pm

The pain in my stomach was so unbearable that I could barely think straight. My entire body felt as if it had been beaten relentlessly. My skin was wrinkled and loose. I was literally wasting away.

Sunday 12/20/09 4:30am

And then finally, on Monday, I felt my coffin begin to move. I heard the key turn and then there was blinding white light as the coffin lid was opened.

The instant I felt I could escape I leapt from my prison cell, I whipped my arms around me and swung at everything around me. I felt my fist connect with soft flesh and then I was suddenly pinned against the wall by my throat. My vision slowly cleared and I was looking down into the eyes of a small elderly woman. She had her hand wrapped around my neck and I was pinned against the wall a full foot off the ground.

“Are you going to behave yourself, young man?” she asked.

I nodded as much as I could and the old woman released me. I crumpled onto the floor and looked up at her.

“I’m Irma,” she began, “You hit my Velma. That is not acceptable. I’ve a mind to place you back in that coffin for another week.”

I looked into the corner and saw the Dark Man holding Velma in his arms. She was unconscious. I looked back at the woman and began to plead. I apologized profusely and began to sob, choking because of my dry throat.

“Get yourself cleaned up and then come up stairs. We need to talk,” she said as she left the room, followed by the Dark Man who carried Velma in his arms.

I was left alone and looked over to the desk. I crawled to it and then climbed into the rickety chair in front of it. On the desktop sat a candelabra that burned brightly, a change of clothes in my size, a basin of water, a mirror and a small box with holes poked in the side.

I leaned over the mirror and looked at my own reflection. I was a shell of my former self. I looked like a living skeleton. Skin hung off of my cheeks and my eyes were deeper set than ever before.

Then suddenly a scent hit me. Blood. Living blood. I ripped the lid off the box and took in its contents for only a mere moment. Then I grabbed the kitten, my fangs descended and I fed. I literally felt the skin begin to tighten on my cheeks. After feeding, I looked in the mirror. My skin was markedly tighter, yet I still looked haggard. I slipped out of my clothes and dressed in the fresh clothes on the desk. I washed my face quickly and then ventured into the hallway.

As I stepped out of the closet, the Dark Man was waiting for me. “This way,” he said and led me out of the hallway into a sitting room lit by only a few lamps and a fire in a small fireplace in the corner.

Irma sat in an armchair nearest the fire. She was holding a small dog on her lap and as I entered she barely glanced up at me.

“Come sit next to me, dear,” she said and pointed to the end of the sofa nearest to her. I obeyed and sat down. She looked up at me, grabbed my chin and eyed my face. “My, you are young. You are still not full, are you?” she asked. I shook my head no. “We’ll fix that,” she said and she picked the puppy up of her lap and sat it on mine.

I took that as a cue and lifted the dog to my mouth. I was about to bite when the dog was ripped from my grasp. Irma held the puppy to her breast and looked at me in horror.

“NOT MITZIE!” she cried. After a moment of awkward stares she rang a bell and Velma entered. Her cheek was swollen and bruised. She carried two more small kittens with her. She handed them to me. I fed quickly, emptying the creatures in less than a minute. Velma took the lifeless bodies from my hands and left the room.

“Better, already.” Irma said and smiled warmly. She leaned forward and looked at me for a moment. “I bet you wonder why you are here. Well, I will tell you. Your maker was an idiot. He made you on a whim and then abandoned you without any teaching.” She glared at the Dark Man as she said this.

“That being said, there are rules and you have broken them. Your offense is a grave one. However, you have been punished and we can move forward without further mistakes,” she said.

“I am sorry, Irma. I am not sure what I have done.” I replied.

“Not sure? You have exposed your kind to great danger. You fed on an innocent and were going to just leave the body in the open. You openly reveal yourself as vampire to your close human companions. If they told anyone of your existence, we could be in great danger. We are few and far between and we persist in existing because we keep in the shadows.”

“But they are my friends! I had to tell them what was going on!” I cried.

“No! Being vampire means you must cut all ties to humans! You must dispose of them and soon. Do it neatly, quickly and for god’s sake get rid of the bodies yourself!”

“You want me to kill my friends?”

“It must be done.”

“I can’t!”

“You must or I will have it done for you!”

I was dumbstruck. I didn’t know what to say. But I knew Irma wouldn’t take no for an answer. I sat and stared at the floor. This was an impossible task.

“Now, go, you need a real meal. Your vehicle is outside. The keys are inside. You maker will see you out.” she said, and went back to petting her dog.

The Dark Man came to me and grabbed me by the arm and pulled me toward the front hallway.

“Michael,” Irma called after us,” I realize this goes against everything I have just told you, but, please continue writing your story on the…what do you call it?…interwebs. I do enjoy hearing of your development. You are no Lestat but I find it riveting, nonetheless.”

I nodded and was pulled out of the room by the Dark Man. He held me steady as we walked to my car. He opened the door for me. “I suggest you feed soon. You are still weak. I’ll be in touch,” he said as he shut the door on me.

I drove straight home, my mind still reeling with the horrors that I had just experienced. When I reached home, I unlocked the door slowly and stepped inside. Cheryl rushed me at the door and wrapped her arms around me. Dustin stood a few feet back, a look of relief on his face.

After a moment I took a step back and leaned against the door. I looked into the faces of my two best friends. The two best friends I had been ordered to kill. I sank to the floor and began to cry…but the tears never came.

Hours later, after a hot shower and three tall glasses of cold cow blood, I told them a lie to explain the past week. I told them I had met my maker and had been taken away to learn more about my kind. They asked for details but I shrugged off their questions until the stopped asking.

I never told them what I had been ordered to do. And as I sat there in their presence, I knew that I could not do as I had been ordered. I would have to find a way out of this.

And that’s what my next step is. I have to protect my friends, or die trying.

- Mike