Nocturnal

by David Paul

  David tries to be courteous.

  “No problem, sugar,” she said, “I wish more handsome men would intrude on me like this.” She laughs nonchalantly and motions for David to take a hit off of the smoking joint. David graciously accepts in an attempt to keep her guard down. The smell alone foreshadows the potency of the marijuana, and after a single toke, David begins to get light-headed and relaxed. “Take another hit,” Emily said enthusiastically.

  The vampire takes a long slow drag from the joint and exhales.

  “Emily, you are in grave danger, and you need to come with me.”

  “I hope that I’m in danger and my life ends sooner, rather than later.” David now realizes why she is alone. He has only been in her presence briefly, and her aura is pale. She is a depressing person to be around and she needs the therapy.

  “I understand how you feel, Emily.” David looks into her eyes and invades her soul. He can feel all of her pain and can read her every thought. She is literally wishing that David would strangle her immediately to end her incessant pain.

  “Please come with me, Emily.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Anywhere, but here,” David said. “I know that this may sound strange, but you will thank me later.”

  Emily has such low self-esteem and such little concern for her own regard that she truly is unafraid of David. Ironically, she has no idea that David is one of the most efficient killers in the world. It doesn’t take much to convince her. “Let’s go! Just let me grab my purse and a sweatshirt.”

  Emily goes into her beautiful house and comes out very quickly wearing a white zip-up sweatshirt. She’s holding her handbag on her shoulder and several packs of cigarettes in one hand. The marijuana cigarette is still burning in between her fingers, and there is no sign of it going out. She brings it with her. Emily walks David out of the landscaped backyard and down her longish driveway to the Cadillac.

  “Nice Caddy, David. I am a big fan of this model,” she said with spunk.

  “It’s actually hers. Get in please.” He opens the rear passenger door for her, and she gets inside.

  “Hi, I’m Emily.”

  “I’m Fiona. I’m glad we were able to get to you.”

  “Get to me?” She asked. “I don’t understand.”

  Emily passes the massive smoking joint to Fiona. Fiona is not prudish in the least bit and smokes the joint like a seasoned veteran pot-smoker. The plush Cadillac’s interior begins to fill up with thick sweet smoke. Fiona realizes that David didn’t get into the details with Emily about exactly why they are here.

  “I promise, we will explain everything to you,” Fiona said. She takes another quick toke and passes the bomber back to Emily.

  Emily declines and motions over to Fiona to send it to David. He quickly takes another drag, and David calls Detangelo on his cell phone. He gets voice mail. He leaves a brief message asking the detective to contact him as soon as possible. They drive toward David’s house, and the interior of the car looks like something out of a Cheech & Chong movie.

  Emily tells everyone how mundane and painful her life is and how doing drugs is her only escape from that. David and Fiona are worried about her potential drug problem, but she explained that pot, hash, and mushrooms were the extent of her drug abuse. That somewhat diminished their concerns because they expected her to say that she abused cocaine, heroine, or painkillers, which they considered more dangerous. Her selection of drugs was actually a relief to David and Fiona. By the time that they were halfway to David’s house, the joint was finally finished, and all of the occupants in the car are extremely stoned.

  Vampires react to drugs and alcohol in a very strange manner. The vampires briefly feel all of the mental effects of the drug, but suffer very little from the physical effects. The regenerative nature of the vampire’s body quickly counteracts the numbing effects of alcohol and other depressants, but the vampire is able to experience the euphoria briefly before it is quickly metabolized within their system. Their experience is more of a mental trip.

  As they drive, David is feeling extra inebriated, and it temporarily relaxes him and brings some iota of peace to his tormented soul. This isn’t the first time that David has partaken in illegal drug use, but the sheer potency of the marijuana Emily brought with her is new to him. Being virtually immortal has many benefits when it comes to experimenting with drugs and other chemicals. For David, there is no risk or fears of physical damage or harm.

  He can basically sample anything he wishes with no worries of physical dependency at all. A potential situation for a quasi-mental dependency can exist, but rarely happens with vampires at all. More common side effects are mood swings and irritability. The more pressing addiction is the sweet fresh blood that they crave, and this will never be replaced with anything else for all eternity. The blood rules his existence.

  “What kind of marijuana was that?” David asked.

  “That was medical grade, and it was grown indoors,” Emily said. “It is the best that money can buy as far as potency and smooth taste. It is called Cotton Candy Killer Kush.”

  Emily laughs about the name.

  “Colorful names,” David said.

  He laughs with her.

  Fiona is staring off into space with a white pale face, and she is mumbling. “This just isn’t right,” Fiona said. Fiona has a frightened look on her face. “I can barely breathe.” Fiona is so high that she is panicking and making herself feel more paranoid about her situation. Somehow, she thinks that she cannot breathe.

  David turns up the radio and holds her hand to comfort her. As soon as she starts to feel the music, she comes out of her paranoia. Soon, everyone is laughing and conversing as if they have known each other for years. David has yet to hear from Detangelo and is eagerly awaiting his call. David is trying to kill time until the detective contacts him. They are passing by the main strip in the city, and Emily sees a hot wiener vendor and begs for David to stop for her.

  “Fiona, do you want one as well?” David asked.

  “I want two all the way,” Fiona replied.

  She has a goofy burnt smile.

  Being out-voted by the two women, David reluctantly turns the car around, pulls over in front of the street vendor, and escorts everyone to the cart. The smell of the food is very enticing, and the ladies are in heaven.

  “Get whatever you want, Emily,” he told her.

  “Thanks.” Emily has the excitement of a child. Emily orders three all the way. Her slim figure didn’t look like it could handle three loaded wieners.

  “While you are at it, please give me two all the way,” he said.

  The vendor expertly prepares five hot wieners with all of the fixings with his bandaged fingers covered by rubber gloves. The pungent smell of the sweet sauteed onions is creating quite an aroma, and the ladies watch wide-eyed and stoned as they wait for their food.

  “So you like wieners now, David?” The vendor asked. The vendor is smiling as if he is in on a joke. David is totally puzzled and speechless. He remembers that voice all too well, but he never expected to hear it again.

  “The wieners aren’t for me,” David said to the vendor. “Emily, go back to the car with Fiona.” David hands her the cardboard holding tray full of food. Emily dances back to the car like she doesn’t have a care in the world. The two ladies eat the wieners on the hood of David’s car and watch David’s interaction with the vendor. David attempts to pay for the food, and the vendor declines.

  “Capello, is that really you?” The vampire asked. David observes his face. “And if so, after all of these years, what the hell are you doing as a mobile, hot wiener vendor?”

  “David, it is me.” Capello laughs. “My old friend, David…I’ve been present since we last spoke. Have you forgotten what I am, and what I do?”

  “Forgive me for being so shocked. You were the last person in the world that I expected to hand me a wiener off of this vending truck tonight.” Capello smiles. “How are
you old friend?” David asked.

  “I’m actually well, David. I knew that you were coming here tonight. I’ve waited for over seven hundred years for our paths to cross again.”

  “We need to talk, don’t we?” The vampire asked. David knew that this chance meeting meant something.

  “Your assumption is correct,” Capello said. “We cannot have this conversation on Westminster Street in the city.”

  Another patron who appears slightly intoxicated asks for three all the way and a Coke.

  “Is my house suitable?” David asked.

  “That will suffice old friend. Does midnight sound alright?”

  “Midnight is fine with me, Capello. I am assuming that you know where I live.” Capello raises one eyebrow, smiles, and doesn’t respond for a moment.

  “I’ll be there at midnight,” Capello said.

  Emily comes running over.

  “Can I get a Coke?” Emily asked.

  Capello digs into the cooler and pulls out an ice-cold soda for Emily.

  “This is on the house, beautiful child.” He smiles at her adoringly.

  Capello winks at David.

  They all leave the vendor and get back into the car.

  “I can’t get over how nice that guy was,” Emily raved.

  “I know,” Fiona said, “he was wicked sweet to give us all the food for free.”

  David does not participate in the conversation, and he still feels somewhat buzzed from earlier. The girls chat away about clothes and fashion, and they seem to really hit it off with one another. Meanwhile, David is lost in thought. He is wondering what else Capello needs to tell him. Things have been running pretty smoothly for David lately, and his relationship with Fiona is stronger than ever. The last thing he wants to hear is some major problem that needs to be attended to. David has an inkling that Capello is going to tell him information regarding the cosmic balance of good and evil. The demon inside Dr. Carver has been busy, and David fears that the demon may have already shifted the balances.

  Capello seems to only be the bearer of bad news. David is fond of Capello, but dreads his premonitions of the future. It has been many years since they last met, and the face of the world has completely changed to the point of being unrecognizable. There is a shortage of God-fearing people in this new world. Temptation has always been a downside for humans, but this new world gives into it far more easily. David would not be shocked if Capello said the world is going to end tomorrow, for he has seen the dark transition inside the hearts of many. Especially in hard economic times, the masses are easily swayed into temptation. The dire feelings of hopelessness and fear help warp their tired minds.

  If all goes as foretold, the world will end in roughly two years. The prophecy basically stated that the world would endure some cataclysmic events prior to the Battle of the Apocalypse. Based on what David sees, good is losing to evil already, and the battle has yet to come. Finally after much waiting, the detective returns David’s phone call.

  “Jack, we need to talk.” The girls have the music pumped up in the car listening to some Akon club remix that David doesn’t recognize. “I can barely hear you,” Detangelo replied loudly.

  David turns down the music, and the ladies show their disappointment. David is laughing on the inside at the ladies who are acting like high school girlfriends partying on a school night. The business at hand is far more pressing, and he needs to speak with the tardy detective.

  “Meet me at my house in ten minutes,” David said.

  “Ummm…OK.” The detective is mildly shocked that David is requesting his presence. A part of him is hoping that David has discovered something that will break the case open.

  David to tells Detangelo on the phone about how Kaye Miller was kidnapped by Dr. Carver. Detangelo is putting out a warrant for Carver’s arrest. David is saving the demonic possession discussion for later. Detangelo is either going to somehow believe him or think that David is insane. It might be time to level with Detangelo about everything. The worse case scenario is that David has to use his charm to blank out Detangelo’s memory or manipulate his mind. After he brings Detangelo aboard, then he needs to get Rawley into the loop about everything going on.

  Apparently, the saying that there is no rest for the wicked is true. David is having himself a very busy night, but is making progress on his case. He arrives at his home and purposely leaves the security gates open. He asks Fiona to entertain Emily with a few drinks and a DVD movie because he needs to speak to Detangelo alone. He also has Capello coming by.

  David is hoping that he can get the detective out of his house before Capello arrives to avoid further complications. He left the security gate open for the cop. Fiona shows Emily around the house, and she is very impressed. Coming from wealth herself, Emily is aware of the kinds of priceless artwork and relics that David has in the house.

  After a brief tour of the house, the ladies settle in the living room, and Emily asks if Fiona has something that they can roll another joint with. Fiona quickly heads to the humidor in the library and grabs herself a cigar. Emily rolls an oversized blunt with one of David’s $50, Cuban cigars. She lights it up, and the two partake in it while watching Superbad. Shortly after they light up, the doorbell rings, and it is Detangelo standing at the front door. David opens the door for him and invites the detective inside.

  “Geez…is there a Bob Marley concert going on in here?” Detangelo asked. The detective instantly picks up on the illicit activity occurring somewhere inside the house.

  “Please forget about that, Jack. I have important information for you.”

  David walks him inside.

  The detective can hear the women giggling and laughing at the movie, and the pungent smell gets stronger as they approach the library while passing the living room. The detective pokes his head into the room and sees the two beautiful women sitting together on David’s huge leather sectional couch while smoking the monster blunt. David’s living room looks like a cinema with a huge projection screen that spans at least fifteen feet. Both ladies are sitting very close to one another and laughing loudly like best friends.

  “I’d love your life, buddy.”

  “Don’t be so sure, Jack.”

  “So what did you have to tell me?” The cop asked.

  “Let us proceed to my library so that we may speak in privacy.” The two sit down in the same chairs that they have in the past. David serves Detangelo a drink.

  “You are going to need this, Jack.”

  David tells the detective everything. David tells him about Carver as well as the true specifics about the satanic murders. David informs Jack about the drug dealers and the lowlife, citing specifics that only the police would know. David admits to being a vampire. The vampire is taking a dangerous gamble that may pay off. If he can befriend this police detective, then he would be able to access the same resources that the police have to track the people he needs to follow. Being a one-man shop has some disadvantages. After about a half hour of David laying out everything to a stunned detective, the detective speaks.

  “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

  “Does it look like I am kidding?” The vampire asked. David laughs, and his eyes turn red. Detangelo is completely terrified. The hardened cop has seen it all, but this was something else. This was something that went beyond sheer criminality.

  The smell of fear is overpowering the strong odor of burnt marijuana still lingering inside the library. David lights up a cigarette in front of the frightened detective who has his gun drawn.

  “Watch this.”

  He commanded Jack’s attention. The vampire puts out the cigarette on his hand, and his skin sizzles and produces what appears to be a third degree burn.

  “What the fuck…” The detective couldn’t muster much more of a response. The burnt skin repairs itself in seconds, right before the detective’s eyes. “How…how did you do that?”

  David wants to prove his point further.

 
“I’m trying to demonstrate to you that I am in fact quite sane,” David said.

  The vampire walks over to the fireplace. He picks up a fireplace poker and slowly skewers it through his open left hand.

  The detective watches in awe. The cop has seen it all. He’s seen criminals break their own backs while fighting off ten cops and resisting arrest because they were high on angel dust. He’s seen people jump off of buildings and slit their wrists. He’s seen dead bodies in the trunks of cars. The detective has seen quite a bit during his tenure as a peace officer. Detangelo had never seen anything like this.

  “Is this fiction, Jack?”

  “You sick fucker…what are you?” The cop asked in horror. Jack is in disbelief. The detective has his gun drawn and fixed on David. The vampire removes the fireplace poker from the palm of his left hand and blood splashes all over. The bloody hole closes up before the detective’s eyes. He shows this to the detective by turning his hand from front to back.

  “Is this how a human’s body reacts to something like that?” David asked. Jack is speechless. Fangs protrude from David’s teeth and the detective visibly urinates in his pants. Jack fires three shots from his pistol, and all of them strike David center mass. The vampire does not even flinch. The gunshots echo throughout the mansion and startle the women.

  “Is everything alright in there?” Fiona screamed. She was panicked.

  “Everything is alright,” David said. “Just watch your movie…yeah McLovin, woo-hoo!” The vampire attempts to make a funny movie reference to keep Fiona calm.

  David turns to Jack, shows him the healed bullet wounds, coughs up three bloody slugs into his hand, and puts them down on the coffee table in front the detective.

  “Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the little dog…what the fuck are you?” The cop asked.

  “I told you what I am. I am a vampire. I am nocturnal.” His teeth are barred, and his eyes are ablaze with crimson. Jack rubs his eyes and does a double take of David. The detective looks at his drink to determine if he has been poisoned because he believes that he is hallucinating. “This isn’t a hoax, Detective,” the vampire said. “There are no smoke and mirrors at work here. You saw your bullets go into my flesh, and I’m not wearing a bulletproof vest.” He attempted to reason with the frazzled policeman. Jack is still speechless and obviously confused. “Here, have another drink.”