A World of Vampires: Volume 2

by Dani Hoots

  Even my mother was a little cautious around Herr Schmidt. She didn’t care for him, and she often spoke of how strange he was when he wasn’t around. She feared him a bit, I think, and didn’t want me to leave her to start work with him. I got her to agree eventually, though, as she couldn’t provide for the three of us alone and I needed to make enough money that only he could provide. She knew it was true and that I would live a better life on the West side, but that didn’t mean I didn’t hear about how she disliked him every time I came home.

  As I rounded the corner, I found a few officers circling around one of the broken barbwire areas. Much to my dismay, they had discovered one of the entrances people have been using regularly to jump the wall. Scheiße.

  I quickly turned around and hurried off towards my secondary route. It was less safe, but since a good number of officers were watching that one wrinkle in the wall like hawks, that meant there were less around there.

  Or, at least, I hoped there weren’t many guards there.

  Roaming around the general area of the secondary route, I found the weak spot of the wall fairly quickly. Thankfully, there weren’t any officers around, allowing me to quickly climb up over the first part of the wall.

  The worst part was the barbwire. Usually I would just find a place that had already been cut through; however, it seemed that this area had been fixed. It didn’t matter, though, as I had brought my wire cutters with me just for this occasion. I wouldn’t leave this side of Berlin without them—not with the fear of getting stuck on the other side of Berlin without an escape plan resonating through my chest. No, I couldn’t let that happen.

  I cut through the wire with no problem. I did it as quickly as I could before someone came over, because all I needed was to be arrested on this side of Berlin. Herr Schmidt could at least sign for me, but I would be paying off the fine for a while. That is, if they didn’t send me off to the East side, which would be the likelier conclusion. No, I couldn’t get caught. As I finished the last wire, I hurried through just as a couple of guards came by. It was too close for comfort.

  It had been about two weeks since the last time I had visited my mother and sister. I had told them I hadn’t known when the next time I could leave work was, as I had been very busy these last two weeks. But now, other than today’s order, there really hadn’t been many people in the shop, so I was able to get away. Herr Schmidt wasn’t too keen on me leaving, since if I got caught, I would be sent back to the East side and he would lose me as an apprentice. He had spent so many hours teaching me the skills to succeed as a tailor, I knew he didn’t want it to all go to waste. Yet I couldn’t just leave my mother and sister without checking on them. If I tried sending them the money through the mail, who knew if it would actually get delivered without officers going through it and taking what they thought was rightfully theirs.

  The streets on this side of Berlin felt like home to me. I had them memorized ever since I was little, as I would often sneak through the night looking for any odd job to help support my family. It wasn’t like my father did much when he was alive anyways, I remembered the longest job he held was for two weeks. None of the other men I had heard my mom talking about seemed to be the greatest either. The only one who did have a sturdy job was the border guard, but he was a schwein and we wouldn’t get into what dangers it left me in every time I came home.

  I was very happy when he finally left my mother alone.

  I breathed in the thick air that was East Berlin and coughed a bit. Some factories had been brought back into production, so smoke came pouring into the air all around this perimeter of the city. It seemed worse on this side, and I only could imagine it was because the Soviets didn’t care about the pollution while the rest of Germany did. I must have gotten used to the clean air because it never affected me this much before.

  I placed part of my jacket over my mouth and nose and kept moving cautiously down the street, keeping an eye out for anyone who seemed to be out of the ordinary. It was strange, seeing the stark differences between West and East Berlin as often as I did. I noted the upkeep on both sides, or lack of I should say for the East side. Our ‘Soviet Brothers’ were supposed to be taking care of us, and we were to be thanking them in the process. The correct term was ‘Soviet Friends’, but I always said brothers because you can choose your friends, not your family.

  I passed by where one of my favorite bread shops used to be. It appeared that it had recently closed down, the window and door all boarded up. It was typical for businesses to go under, I never saw anything last more than a year before they had to move. It was exactly why I took up Herr Schmidt’s proposal in such a hurry. I didn’t want to be one of those businesses that just disappeared.

  Just as I rounded a corner, I caught sight of two large men kicking a young man. Typical occurrence, really, but I couldn’t look away. I’ve been on the receiving line of a beating, and it wasn’t fun. There were some scars that I knew would never heal.

  They were beating him to a pulp. Normally, one would just turn and walk away. It wasn’t anyone else’s business, especially since I didn’t know what the kid did to deserve the beating.

  But I wasn’t one of those people.

  I had been in the same position as that kid. In the past, I had been beaten a few times just because I inadvertently stepped into someone’s territory, as if it really was their territory. They didn’t own the streets. No one ever came to save me. Everyone always just walked on by.

  So I grabbed a rock and threw it at the two men. Seconds later, I realized it was a huge mistake. As I hit one of the men, they both turned around, and I saw that they were both Soviet German officers.

  “Scheiße,” I mumbled as I turned around and started running.

  “Halt!” one of the two guards ordered as they ran after me.

  I was in deep trouble. I should have minded my own business, but no. I had to be the hero in all this mess. I really should stop trying to be something I wasn’t, as my father always said—the one thing he did say to me over and over again when I came home a bloody mess for starting a fight or helping a kid out. He would always say there was no point and that I should just stick to being like those around me and ignore everything.

  Like that was going to ever happen.

  I should have noticed by their long coats, though, but it was hard to see as most of the street lamps were broken in this part of the city and hadn’t been repaired. Maybe they liked it that way, so no one would see the illegal activities that they participated in.

  But right now, I needed to focus on getting away from these creeps. It wasn’t like they would rightly take me in. They would probably beat me just like they were doing to that kid and then check my ID and find out I was from the West side and then either shoot me, or throw me in prison since I didn’t have any visa or anything.

  Again, Scheiße.

  So it was important I got away, or I was screwed. It wasn’t like I could pay them off either, that was a pretty big rock I chucked at them. I’d heard people being shot for less severe things than that.

  I rounded a corner, lost in thought, and forgot that it was a dead-end.

  Yup. I was screwed.

  Quickly, I glanced around for some way to get out of here, but there was nothing. It was literally a dead-end with no ladders, no doors, no windows, or anything. I heard laughter coming from behind me.

  “Seems you took a wrong turn, boy,” the one I hit with the rock smiled.

  “Look,” I tried to explain. “I didn’t know you were the Polizei. I just thought you were some jerks hurting a kid. I really was doing my rightful duty as a citizen by helping him out.”

  “Nice try, punk. We will teach you the same lesson we were teaching that kid.”

  I bit my lip, thinking of a way out of this, as they stepped closer and closer. I didn’t know what to do and I wished once in my life for someone to come to my rescue. But that wasn’t going to happen. That sort of thing never happened in real life.
<
br />   I thought about trying to fight them, but knew that would probably end up being worse for me. They would probably just shoot me just when I had gotten over my last bullet wound. It was a graze, really, but it still hurt like none other. I didn’t want to go through that again. Especially since Herr Schmidt forbade me from ever going to that doctor again. Not my fault he was the only one who would repair bullet wounds, no questions asked.

  So I only had the option of taking it. I didn’t particularly want to go back home with bruises, cuts, and a black eye, and I especially didn’t want to go to Herr Schmidt’s the next day looking like I had gotten in a fight. He did have a reputation to uphold after all.

  But fighting back would only make it worse.

  I closed my eyes and guarded my face with my arms as the first punch came rolling towards me. It hit me right in the jaw, causing me to bite my lip in the process. I tasted the strange metal taste of my own blood, as it poured out of the cut my teeth had caused.

  The two officers just laughed as I hit the ground from their next punch in the side of the head. I was at a disadvantage now, as they could just continue kicking me in an unrelenting, brutal fashion. Now there was less chance of me being able to get back or get in a better position to gain the upper-hand. Falling was the worst thing to do. I should have kept my balance better, while taking these hits.

  It felt like steel-toed boots were coming from every direction as they kicked me in the stomach, the back, the face, and in the legs. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything but take it at this point. I tried not to make any sound, not give them the satisfaction of hearing either my screams or my cries.

  I didn’t hear as a man approached from behind me because my ears were ringing greatly from the violence I was experiencing. The only reason I noticed was because the two officers stopped kicking me and my eyes finally focused on what they were looking at. And there, at the beginning of the alley, stood a crouched man with an old wooden cane. He had a cloak covering himself and, I couldn’t understand whatever he was saying to the two officers. All I could tell was that the officers were getting angry at him.

  I tried to yell at the man to run, that it wasn’t worth it, but I have no idea what came out of my mouth as my ears were still ringing. The two officers started to approach the old man. I tried to get up to help, for some stupid reason as I was in a lot of pain and useless at this point.

  “Run!” I screamed, finally being able to hear again. “Just get out of here!”

  What happened next, I am still not entirely sure. The cloaked man sprung from where he stood near the two officers. Large teeth came out of the hood and bit at the throat of one of them. He didn’t even have enough time to scream. The remaining officer jumped back and reached for his gun.

  I didn’t stay around to see what happened next. I bolted for it, even with my legs bruised and bleeding. I didn’t care, I had to get out of there before I attained any more injuries. Whatever that monster was, I didn’t want to find out what he was going to do to me. It was worse enough to have to deal with the two officers, but whatever it was that attacked them was ripping them to shreds. That wasn’t something you could come back from. I heard the officer’s gun go off just when I was about a couple of blocks away now, then I heard his scream.

  Yup, I was glad I ran.

  Even if that thing left me alone, there would be other guards running to the scene soon and they would only find me lying there in a defenseless position. They would most likely suspect me of killing the guards, and I would be killed on the spot for that reason. If that didn’t happen, they would at least arrest me and find out that I wasn’t supposed to be in East Berlin in the first place. There really was no good scenario if I stayed, which is exactly why I ran for it, even though I struggled to run, given my recent injuries.

  I was only a few blocks from my mother’s apartment, but I went on ahead and made a circle around it, just to make sure no one was following me. I was dripping blood on the pavement, not much, but enough to make me anxious that someone could follow my tracks here. I worried for my family’s safety and didn’t want the creature attacking them as well, though I really doubted it. I also hoped that none of the soldiers who had found the bodies followed my trail all the way home. I waited a while to see if anyone would come, but they never did. Moreover, I was delaying the inevitable, as I didn’t want my mother and my sister to see me like this, but I really had no other choice.

  When I arrived to my mother’s apartment, the lights were still on. It was pretty late and I was surprised and wondered if my mother stayed up late every night in case I came home late. It made my chest hurt just a bit more than the residual pain from my bruised ribs.

  I knocked on the door as quietly as I could, but loud enough for her to hear. The door opened a crack, and when my mother saw me, she gave me her normal horrified look when I came home looking beaten. I had seen it many times and it made me cringe even more every time it happened. I didn’t want to make her worry more than she already did about my welfare, but it was near impossible with the kind of power that controlled the surrounding area. At least this time, a border guard wasn’t involved, which I was grateful for since last time one caught me, my mother ended up going out with him.

  No, this was definitely better than that.

  “Hi, mother. Mind if I come in?” I tried to smiled, but my gashed lip made it uncomfortable and I quickly stopped.

  She hurriedly pulled me inside before anyone else could see me in this state. I glanced around to find the same run-down apartment still awaited me. The hole in the wall had been fixed, at least, which I was thankful for since we were expecting a cold winter. Two bowls were still out next to the sink, probably leftover from dinner and probably the only two bowls they had, if I remembered right.

  “Amadeus,” my mother said as she closed the door. “What happened? Are you okay? Why do you do this? You make me worry so much.”

  My mother was the only one who called me by my full name. Most people called me Ade for short. I definitely preferred the nickname. I gave her the most innocent look I could, and she frowned with her light eyebrows furrowed. She placed her thin arms on her waist and that was the moment I noticed she was a bit thinner than usual, as her blouse and skirt seemed to just hang off of her. Her light hair was let down and grey strands had seemed to multiply in number over the last year.

  “Are you alright mother?”

  Her blue eyes widened, but before she could say anything, my sister came running from out of my mother’s room in her pink pajamas, her light brown hair flying back like some kind of cartoon.

  “Ade! Ade! Ade!” She wrapped her small arms around me and I winced but didn’t say anything. Our mother noticed right away and pulled her back.

  “Be careful, Gretchen, can’t you see your big brother is in pain?”

  Gretchen looked up at me, with the same doe-like blue eyes our mother had. They made me smile, as she had grown into them so much. “Why are you bleeding, Ade?”

  I knelt down, happy that she showed such concern. “Because I stood up for a person in need. Now it’s late, so you need to go back to bed.”

  She shook her head defiantly. “No! I never get to see you. It’s not fair!”

  I sighed. “What if I read you a story?”

  Her eyes lightened up a little bit. “A story?”

  “Yes, any story you want.”

  She grabbed my hand and pulled me to her room. “Fine, read me a story now then.”

  I laughed as I went into her room. I had missed her so much over the past four years. Now, she was just turning six. I couldn’t believe I had missed so much of her life because of that wall. I hated the border so much and just wished we could live together happily without worry.

  Gretchen jumped on the twin-sized bed and pulled out a book from underneath the mattress and handed it to me.

  “Which story do you want me to read?”

  “How about a vampire story?” she asked quickly, as if she h
ad been planning for me to read it all along.

  “Fine, I suppose I can read that.” Our mother leaned against the slender doorway as I begun the story. “Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a Roma camp, who one night was coming back from a nearby village...”

  I had probably read this story to Gretchen at least ten times. I knew it like I knew the back of my hand. She loved vampire stories, even though, in my opinion, she was too young to listen to such stories. She loved hearing about vampires in Europe, especially the aufhocker, the supposed vampire that haunted the streets of Germany, not that I would ever believe it. In reality, it was some human who caused the legend, some disgusting psychopath.

  Our mother didn’t say anything as I sat there and read the entire story aloud, even after Gretchen fell fast asleep somewhere around the middle of the story. Mother looked worried and as I continued reading the story, I was able to examine her a bit more. She seemed a lot paler than the last time I had seen her, which was just two weeks before. I tried not to think about what was going on while I was with Gretchen, not wanting her to pick up on the vibe of my own worry. Once the story was done, I placed the book under the bed and tucked her in for the night.