by Phil Wohl
All of the confidence and false bravado drained from Sharon's being as I was able to see her for who she really was for the first time, an inexperienced teenage girl.
Her face turned red after a few seconds of holding her breath and trying to force a turn to one of her other personas. Gary was about to stand up and play the part of the instructive, yet impatient parent, but as usual, I took the led.
"Attack me!" I said to Gary internally over and over again, but he refused to comply. I pushed him and yelled "Attack me!" again and he finally understood what I was doing, so he came at me with a clenched fist. His aggression must have caused some kind of instantaneous chemical reaction, because Sharon turned into a snarling wolf and then jumped into the air as a dolphin and poked him away from me with her nose. He obviously wasn't appreciative of the deflection, although part of him was proud to finally have another member of his lineage in the family business.
Gary turned into a whale and rested on top of his dolphin daughter until she realized that she could also turn into a whale, thus producing a protector stalemate. Gary turned back into his human form and the so di Sharon, as they sat in the sand.
"That was fun" she exuberantly yelled.
Gary looked at me and said internally, "Just wait and see how much fun she has at the end of a sharpened blade in a few hours!"
And I thought to myself, "It will happen so fast that she probably won't even remember her first time!"
Meanwhile, down in the farm in Kansas, Thaddeus was trying to summon the strength to tell his wife that they had to move from their 30-acre haven.
"The kids can work a farm like no 10 people I have ever seen!" Mary Brewster gushed as she folded some laundry, there was always dirty twin laundry.
"We have to move!" Thad blurted out, as the pressure of the moment finally percolated.
Mary laughed as she continued to fold clothes she had just removed from the line.
"You've been out in the sun too long!"
And then she noticed a serious look on his face, which was a similar look on her father's face before he went off to war.
A chill ran down and back up her spine, "Is there a war that's about to start that I don't know about?"
Thad showed no external reaction to that question, because a war was about to hit the play button after years of being on pause, and their kids would be enlisting right behind him.
"I found out this week that we have an abundance of chemicals in the soil that could be harmful to our health."
Thad was telling the truth, but it was something he had known for quite some time. He had knowingly put his wife's health at risk because he knew that he and the kids were in no immediate danger.
"Oh my gosh. What are we going to do? We have just enough money to live on, but not to move," she stated as the family's bookkeeper.
While Thad and his counterpart Gary appeared to spend much of their time reclining, Thad had taken up robbing banks while Gary sold lobsters and other seafood to local restaurants for immense profits. This creating accounting produced some impressive off-balance sheet financing.
Short of telling Mary about his very lucrative late-night hobby, Thad had to bring her to the shallow end of the pool with swimmies.
"My new employer, a hospital, is going to pay for us to move."
Thad couldn't believe he said the word "hospital!" His first thoughts were builder and then bank, but then he thought about blood and the word "hospital" breached his lips.
Mary cocked her head and questioned, "A hospital? What are you going to do in a hospital?"
This time, Thaddeus said the first thing that came into his mind, "There are opening a new blood bank and they want me to manage the operations."
Mary was going to question her husband's credentials to manage blood abut remembered how calm and efficient he always was around it. She continued with small talk as she became more comfortable with the idea.
"Remember that time I bumped my head in the barn and blood was everywhere? You were so calm and even stitched up the gash in my head. What is a blood bank?"
"It's like a regular bank with blood," Thad replied and then went a little deeper. "People of all blood types put blood aside for other people in need of a transfusion."
Now, this was in the days before the internet, which made it much easier to find jobs in different areas of the country and world.
"How did you even know of the position?"
"A friend of mine on the East Coast sent me a telegraph specifying his interest in having me manage the clinic. I once stitched his head up, too."
While it was true that Thad had once stitched up my head, because he was so drunk that he forgot that I would self-heal in minutes, the rest of it was hogwash. I was my way of poking Thaddeus with the blood-infused joke. Only days earlier, we had a meeting of the minds as I sensed he was having some trepidation about moving his family.
"You know you're going to have to move once they turn 18, because there's no way I'm going to live in Hooterville," I said internally to Thad as I walked on the beach.
"Hartwell, is that you? he asked as he rode on his tractor in the field.
"Yes, it's me Thaddeus. Are you riding a tractor?"
He laughed, "Its' actually quite pleasurable. At least for the first hour or two."
Thad then paused before asking, "What am I going to tell her, Thomas?"
I didn't hesitate, "Tell her that an old friend offered you a job at a blood bank on the East Coast."
"A blood bank?! he questioned. "Of all the things, why a blood bank?"
"You are good with blood," I replied, reliving a few moments when Thad had done me in with his sword.
Thad obviously was clued into the same highlight reel, because he smiled and replied, "I can't argue with that! Will I actually have to do the job?"
This time I laughed, "We both know you don't need the income! Besides, you can tell her that you work the night shift and then sleep the whole day."
Thad nodded his head in approval, "That is brilliant! I barely get to sleep with all of the activity on this farm. How do you think my kids will adjust?"
The question was two-fold, so I attacked one part at a time.
"There are plenty of great colleges on the East Coast, and I think they'll adjust in no time. Those two appear to be fairly adventuresome. I think we will be the ones have the bigger adjustment, not you. Besides, there is an abundance of financial institutions with a lot more money that those rural banks you withdraw from."
Thad replied, "Man's gotta' make a living and provide for his family. We all do what we have to in order to survive."
"No, doubt, Thad! See you when I see you," I said in order to extract myself from the conversation and any remaining emotional ties before the battles resumed. It was impossible to go 100% when your were fond of the opposition.
"See you soon, Thomas. Thanks for the job referral," he stated.
MOVE
Thaddeus found a proper colonial house a safe distance from the beach and just down the street from a blood bank where he was supposedly working. It was also adjacent to three banks that had a quite liberal withdrawal policy.
"When can we go to the beach?!" and excited Cal asked his father.
Thaddeus wasn't responding, because all he could think was "You'll be there soon enough, and you probably won't like it!"
Emily noticed that her father was not responding to her brother, so she decided to whine to her mother instead, "Mom, it's so hot! Can we go to the beach?"
And then the twins smiled and said in unison, "Please!"
Thaddeus looked at Mary and she knew he wanted nothing to do with the outing, so she said, "Okay, get your things and we'll go."
Thad knew the kids would be fearful only hours from their 18th birthday. What they didn't know was that a battle would take place that night, which would probably land them back on the beach in an unfavorable position. The skillful hunter followed his family to the beach in order to conform his suspici
ons. Mary sat in the sand near the shore while Emily and Cal frantically removed their t-shirts and shorts. They ran to the water, but stopped short as a wave pushed water closer to them. Instead of dipping their toes in the ocean they did what any prospective hunter would do, they ran away!
Thaddeus smiled as his wife yelled at her kids, "What's wrong with you two? The water won't bite!"
Mary backed up her claim by getting up and walking right into the water, which splashed up to her knees.
"See, it's absolutely refreshing!"
Cal looked at Emily and she returned his petrified stare. Thaddeus had never seen fear in the eyes of his children and thought the new emotion was a welcomed change from their usual non-stop advancement. They were so frightened and unsure of themselves that they ran all the way home. Thaddeus walked up to the beach and handed his wife a towel to dry off her legs. He turned around and picked up his children's t-shirts and shorts and then put his arm around his wife, "Looks like we get to spend a lot more alone time on the beach."
Like so many sleeping beach towns in the 1960s, downtown Virginia Beach went dark after midnight with the surf revealing the only activity. That was, until, I stood in front of my modest beachside home and was soon joined by Garrison and his daughter Sharon. All Gary had to was to say to Sharon, "We gotta' go," and she excitedly followed him like a puppy dog. Eloise Phillips was usually asleep by 10:15 p.m. and nothing short of a natural disaster could interrupt her slumber.
I nodded to Gary and he looked ready, but his daughter had a broad smile on her face, which told me that she would be an interesting ally for years to come.
Across town, where the spray of the ocean could not be seen or heard, Thaddeus was having a more difficult time convincing his kids that they would not be going anywhere near water. His wife was also a heavy sleeper as fate would have it, so he was able to speak freely without worrying about the need to explain himself. I never talked to Gary and Thad about it, but they never talked to their wives about was was going on after midnight in all the years we were together. At least as long as the mortal women were alive.
"We are not going back to the ocean," Thad said to the twins even though he knew that wasn't the absolute truth.
"Are you sure?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, that water was really cold!" Cal complained, in a rare display of weakness.
I thought for a few days about the location of our first battle, and then sent internal instructions to Thaddeus after coming to a decision.
"Meet us at the town square."
The town square had multiple access points and an old fountain in the shadows of the adjacent area.
"Hey, we're going to the town square," Thaddeus said to his kids.
They followed s Cal asked, "Is that where we went to the fair yesterday?" as he did a mental scan of the area and said to his sister internally, "Watch for that old fountain at the Northeast edge of the square."
Thad was amazed at the transformation of his kids from scared children to cold-blooded vampire hunters. But he also knew that if would take a while before they could match wits with me. He knew I was going to let Garrison occupy him while I battled his inexperienced kids, but he also realized what I already knew: one day they would no longer be experienced and pose a significant roadblock for my way of life. I looked over at Sharon and hoped that she could stem the tide and let me focus on the male twin, whatever his name was. I knew his name and he knew mine, but it was always all business when we fought.
Nature then took its course as we all jogged then sprinted on air way to the town square. Not another word was spoken during the 30-second fight, which was on the shorter duration of all of our encounters. We hit the square and my plan started to take shape - Garrison immediately locked up Thaddeus and headed right for the twins without any awareness as to where Sharon was.
Calvin had this look on his face that said, "Punch me!" so I did just that as Sharon and Emily clashed for the first of many occasions. I drove Cal into a bank of trees and then followed the path of his trajectory. Thad and Gary had become good friends in the years they were my caretakers, and used the opportunity to catch up after a nearly 20-year break.
"How are you, my friend," Thad said as they gave the appearance of fighting. I learned in later years that the two had become experts at giving the appearance of genuinely disliking each other, even though they were really two peas in a pod doing the same job on opposite sides of the battle.
"I am well," Gary replied. "But I can't believe you had twins!"
"I know! What were the odds of that happening?" Thad replied. "Good thing, though, we couldn't let you have that much of an advantage."
"We knew this day would come," Garrison stated.
"And now our lives are no longer our own," Thad said. "At least for now," he added.
Emily and Sharon unsheathed their swords, probably because they weren't too confident about their changes yet. They went back and forth until Sharon surprisingly gained a noticeable advantage, which caught Cal's eye even though he was about to get his lights put out by me. He jumped in the air and changed into a hawk, speeding through the air toward his sister. He neared the pile and changed into a fierce grizzly bear, and his roar stopped Emily from delivering a fatal stroke. She looked up at the bear and was frozen in time as he swept across with his right paw and cleanly separated her rather pleasant head from her shoulders.
Emily was not pleased, "Awww! Why did you go ahed and do that! I could have taken her!"
Cal's actions set off a series of reactions that quickly ended the battle for the night. Garrison was genuinely disturbed at the sight of his daughter being killed, so he said to Thad "Excuse me old boy" and then zipped over to Cal and put an end to his sister with the blade of his sword while he looked on in terror. The sight of seeing his daughter terminated moved Thaddeus, but his son was not moving, which put him at a distinct advantage.
Thad realized on the way over to me, Gary and his immovable son, that his twins held the key to reasserting dominance in the battle. If they were able to become a force then maybe they had a shot to avoid taking nightly dirt naps. I also realized that nightly confrontations would only make them stronger, so it was incumbent upon me to stretch the time out between fights.
Gary was in a different realm when he put the sharp edge of rthe blade through Cal's back and heart and then squared off against a charging Thaddeus as Cal's limp body feel to the ground. I could tell by the velocity of Thad's heartbeat that Gary's night was about to be over, so I closed my eyes and for the first time in my existence as either a mortal or vampire, I meditated.
Thad jumped in the air as a ferocious pit bull terrier and Gary was about to slice him down until he changed into grizzly and swiped his head clean off. He then set his sights on me, swinging his blade toward the center of my body. I focused on the the breeze and felt a sudden shift ion the air flow, so I clasped my hands together and surrounding his blade. I then extended my nails on both hands and thrust them into Thad's chest in one motion, much to his surprise.
My first thought was to clean up the bodies and the mess, because it wouldn't have been good form to have the five bodies strewn in the middle of town before the dawn reinvigorated them. My first thought was to dump them all in the ocean, but I decided on a scatter strategy instead: Gary and Sharon in their backyard with a decidedly Eastern exposure, Thaddeus on his back porch with Emily, and Calvin, well Calvin, he needed to be taught a lesson and wake up in the one place that he didn't want to be. So I dropped him in the ocean and his body sank half-way down before it floated to the surface and then washed up on the shore just before daybreak.
I slept like a newborn baby that night. In fact, it was probably the best night sleep I had in years! And while I peacefully slumbered, the sun was rising on a crystal-clear summer day. Cal's waterlogged body washed up on the shore and he was the first out of five to receive the healing rays of the sun, because of the unimpeded view of the sky on the beach.
The rays
of light flickered on the ocean, making its way to the shore and Cal's being. Water started pouring from his insides as the process of repairing a dead soul was in progress. Recovering from the first death was always the hardest, whether you were a vampire, protector or hunter. Cal's eyes opened but he still couldn't move, as the searing pain had an immobilizing effect. He sat up a few moments later and screamed despite his tremendous threshold for pain. It was a new sensation that he would eventually become accustomed to.
From that moment of rebirth on, all Cal could think about was killing me. This thirst for my blood was not shared by his sister Emily, who really didn't like me at all and was happy to share anything with her brother. She woke up next to her father on their back porch and experienced a similar kind of intense pain upon revival, sans water, but did not let out an audible shriek despite her vociferous ways. Thaddeus calmly arose from his slumber feeling just as rested as me and and Garrison. It appeared that the more you died, the more restful your time became between the afterworld and the living. There were times we actually looked forward to dying, just so we could get a little rest.
Conversely, Sharon had a difficult time reemerging. It was lucky that the light hit her before her father, because water started flowing from her body just as it did for Cal. We never made the connection between her and Cal until much later in time, but it started to form on that day.
BURIED
Cal and his fraternal twin sister were so connected that we could never tell who was coming and who was going. As advertised, Emily usually set Cal up for most of their kills by distracting me enough to leave an opening – a neck, a leg, my heart.
“We have to get rid of him,” I said to Sharon and Gary after a particularly gruesome be-heading.
“What did you have in mind?” Gary asked.
I smiled, “How are you two at gathering rocks”
