Keith was as fat as he was ugly. His face looked to be weathered by the sun, as if someone had taken a rough piece of sandpaper to his face. Saved from an early death from atherosclerosis and a weakened heart, he paid a vampire a considerable sum of money to circumvent the system. Now Keith had the might of a monster and the disposition to go with it. He had been a cruel diamond salesman as a human, and a dishonest one at that, replacing genuine diamond with fakes. He had always picked on the elderly as they were much easier to fool, and less likely to have his dishonest work checked. Even so, he had been forced to kill an elderly man and dispose of his body in the ocean.
Keith’s weight shook the kitchen as he paced back and forth, slapping at them under the table. It was most enjoyable to prolong the mental torture. “How does it feel to know that I’m soon going to eat the both of you? Describe it to me.”
“How does it feel to be a fat piece of shit?” John countered.
Margaret swiped at her husband of fifty years. “For god sake don’t make him mad!”
“Don’t make him mad! That fat tub of lard is going to eat us!” Since death appeared imminent, he saw no reason to mollify the obese bastard. John was summoning his courage to get up and face the inescapable conclusion of death by vampire.
And with that Keith giggled like a little boy that had put a grasshopper down a little girl’s dress, their reaction and interaction was priceless to him. He then stomped on the old woman’s hand under the table, breaking two of her fingers. She cried out in pain and it was the most awful feeling for John to not be able to defend his beloved. He had once been a military hero, and his courage returned as he stood and punched the biter right in the throat, but it was like punching steel, and all he accomplished was hurting his hand. Keith’s continued snickering was simply adding offense to their pain.
Keith smiled and showed his fangs. “That was like being hit by a fly old man.” He grabbed John by the neck and lifted him off his feet as a torrent of rain hit the square kitchen window. The rain caused John to glance toward the window, even as the life was being strangled out of him. Keith shook him like a rag doll, broke his neck with a loud unsettling crack, and then fed on him. Blood dripped down to the floor as the old woman took a fatal heart attack and slumped under the table.
The fiend ripped John’s head off, squeezed out a large amount of blood and let his body fall with a thud. He got on his knees and lapped the blood as a dog would from its water bowl. He had hoped to terrify Margaret to a new level of fear, but as he looked at the old woman he realized that she had already passed on, it angered him. He started to smash everything in the house, commencing with their microwave.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ALLISON WALLER WALKED DOWN the sidewalk and into the night with her 12-year-old daughter Jenny; she was quite sure that her daughter would turn twenty in six months instead of thirteen. Allison had gorgeous green eyes and the look of classic beauty; she was tall and slender with blonde shoulder length hair. Allison had an air of goodness about her; she was classy in mind and spirit and always gave the advantage of doubt to everyone until proven otherwise. She had hoped that she taught her daughter properly in the ways of the world, and in the judgement of right and wrong.
Jenny was no ordinary child.
She was the product of her mother and a vampire the natural way, and that was a rare occurrence indeed. Jenny was obviously going to be a carbon copy of her mother in many ways, and was as cute as a baby seal. Her hair was almost white blond and her eyes also green, though lighter than her mother’s. She carried her red Nine West handbag that they had purchased at Macy’s for eighty dollars and she believed that it made her appear ladylike, and carried herself accordingly. They enjoyed their walks together. Jenny carried a Japanese katana sword and seven throwing knives in a belt on her right side.
Jenny looked up at her mother as they walked. “Mother, you do know that we’re being followed?”
“Oh, I know.”
Jenny switched her purse to her opposite shoulder. “And you know that he wants to drain our blood.”
They stopped on the sidewalk in Manhattan and faced one another. “So what else is new? They say that about half of the vampires are good and half are bad. What do you think?”
Jenny considered what her mother had said. “I think there are more good ones than bad ones but we hear more about the bad ones and not enough about the good. Just like on the news, it’s the awful stories that bring up the ratings. That’s sad don’t you think?”
“I guess bad news sells a lot more. Have you influenced him yet?”
They started walking again. “I have mother but just a little. I’ve made him wonder if it is necessary to kill us or not. But if he gets too close he’ll be sorry that he messed with us.”
“You should see the awful images he’s thinking, images of ripping us to shreds. Tearing our throats out with blood flying everywhere. Very graphic and bloody. If I can’t alter his mind I’m going to make him stake himself.”
“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”
The bat flew out of the sky and turned into Oscar the vampire, but as he approached within a dozen feet he immediately stopped and looked puzzled. The look on his face was quite humorous. The killer brought his hands to his cheeks and stared at them.
Jenny sighed. “You were going to break off that tree branch and stake yourself. See, that one right there.”
“Oh, that’s right, that’s right, that’s right.” He jumped up into the popular tree, broke off a branch and staked himself through the heart. His meat turned to dust as his skeleton fell to the ground.”
“That was necessary?”
“Yes mother. I could have rearranged his mind but it would only have lasted for a couple of weeks, maybe a month. It wasn’t going to be a permanent thing. He would have killed many more.”
“Jenny, you’d make a great red sheriff.”
“That is very true. Sheriff Jenny Waller, vampire killer extraordinaire.” She thought on it. “You know there are some vampires that I simply can’t influence, and I’ve no idea why that is.”
They walked over the bones and kept going. Cars passed them by, and they were as many vehicles on the road as had been in the past even though there was more risk at night than during the day to be killed by a biter. New Yorker’s were not easily inconvenienced. Jenny suddenly stopped and had become so excited. Her mother looked down at her knowingly.”
“You have got to be kidding.”
“I am not. There’s a red sheriff going to blur around that corner, and he’s has a vamp dog. I’ve never seen a vamp dog. Her aura is so beautiful, almost like a rainbow. Oh, how I wish you could see it Mother.”
Allison was most impressed. “I’m never seen a vamp dog either. They’re quite rare.”
Alexander blurred around the corner and stopped and looked down at the bones. He looked at Jenny and her mother, and then focused entirely on the girl. Jenny ran up to Tessy as she was so enthusiastic that she could barely contain herself. She jumped up and down with the excitement.
“Can I pet your dog? Please!”
Tessy had already started to lick the girl and in fact had some desire to go home with her, but she knew that her place was with Alexander. The dog then padded up to Allison and she stroked her pretty face. Tessy’s tail was curled but didn’t reach all the way to her back. She was a shepherd and husky mix.
Alexander looked puzzled as he examined the branch and sniffed at the air, realizing that it was indeed Oscar that was lying in front of him on the sidewalk; he could see his gold amulet with its red ruby around his neck. He bent his knees for a closer look. “You ladies happen to notice what happened to this vampire? This just happened. Did you see who staked him?”
Jenny nodded as Tessy went back to her and sniffed, and the German shepherd sneezed as it seemed puzzled. “It was strange. He jumped up there, broke the tree branch and stuck it in himself. I guess he committed suicide.”
Th
e red sheriff stared up at the tree. “Oscar would never have killed himself. Someone must have influenced him, but with such an ancient vampire that wouldn’t have been easy. Did you see anyone else around near him?” He suspected Jenny because of the energy emanating from her.
“Nope.” Jenny continued to play with the dog.
The dog sneezed again as if it was her way of pointing at Jenny. In fact had Alexander read the dog’s mind just then he would have seen what the dog was trying to infer. But he was just too puzzled to notice the dog’s behaviour. Jenny opened her purse on took out a little black book and ran over to the sheriff.
The dog barked.
“Could I PLEASE have your autograph? I have two from other red sheriffs. I collect the cards but I only have about half of them and I don’t have yours.”
Alexander wrote his name in her book as he smiled at her. “What’s your name?”
“Jenny.”
“I can’t observe your aura Jenny. You’ve some sort of spell about you.”
“My mother had her friend block mine. It’s the in thing. Did you kill any vampires tonight and can you have your dog show me her fangs?”
Alexander stood up and his sword had become visible from under his ink black trench coat. “Why do you think that she’s a vampire?”
“Well, you’re a red sheriff so I guess that I just assumed. I don’t think that an ordinary dog could do that job.”
“Tessy, show her your fangs.”
The dog showed her fangs but quickly pulled them back in as she had no desire to appear threatening. A crow cawed several times from the top of the tree and it briefly took their attention. The shepherd let go with a single bark and it flew off. Allison gestured to her daughter that they should be going.
Jenny and Alexander spoke simultaneously. “It’s just a crow.” But was it an ordinary crow?
Alexander stared at the girl as he tightened his eyebrows. His cell phone sounded in song and he knew it was most likely another emergency. “I have to go but I have something for you.” He pulled out a card of himself and handed it to her, its red border was luminescent. There you go. I had a request from another but I can get him another one.”
Jenny took the card and was most impressed. “Thank you so much. I’m going to tell all my friends that I got a card from a red sheriff. They are going to be so envious.”
Alexander blurred off into the night. The dog gave Jenny one last appreciative glance, as if to say that she was happy that Jenny was on their side, and then then the stunning animal instantly disappeared into the night.”
The night had suddenly become a little lonely.
“Jenny, you shouldn’t do that.” She admonished her daughter with a shake of her head. It was difficult to keep her talents a secret but they attempted it nonetheless.
“Shouldn’t do what?”
“Don’t you play innocent. When you read someone’s mind so fast and you synchronise with their words it could be enough for them to want to take a closer look at you. And your abilities must always remain a secret, for your safety and mine.”
“I didn’t think you’d notice.”
“Sure.”
“In any case he didn’t notice. Mother, I think the sheriff was following the vampire that killed himself.”
“I believe that you’re correct.”
“If I would have waited a little longer we could have watched the sheriff cut his head off. Wouldn’t that have been exciting?” Jenny started to skip as she walked.
“You really shouldn’t be excited at the death of anyone.”
“You should have seen what he wanted to do to us. It was horrifying.”
“That’s enough.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
DRACULA FOLLOWED THE SCENT of the young girl and she was almost exactly eighteen miles away from her home. He blurred to a warehouse area near the docks, where an old abandoned house seemed out of place beside the huge blue warehouse, also abandoned. The dirty white house looked as though it would fall over and collapse if it was kicked. The Master sniffed the air and was certain that the girl was inside. Several seconds later Piers Anthony had zipped beside the Master as Dracula studied the almost two hundred year old dwelling. He listened intently to the voices inside.
“I take it she’s in there?” said Piers. He played with the stubble on his face.
“Indeed, and she’s alive. I can smell her fear.”
“How are we to acquire the necessary permission for entry?”
Dracula studied the white peeling paint on the old crooked house. A broken tricycle with no wheels was in the front yard, perhaps a remnant from the long ago family that occupied the place. Two plastic soldiers also lay in the dirt. “I don’t think that’s going to be necessary. There was a structural defect when this abode was constructed many years ago, and now the front of the house is ready to cave in. The back section, where the girl is located, has weathered the years a little better. I’m going to smash the face off the house, and then it won’t technically be a house anymore and we can enter.”
“You’ve accomplished this in the past?”
“I’ve accomplished most things.”
The author was impressed and had never considered such a thing. “Dracula, would you please tell me about the Mona Lisa, I’m dying of curiosity. I have to know and I promise that I will not tell another soul.”
Dracula claimed to know the reason for the famous smile, and that he had in fact been present for a time when it was being created, but also said that he would never reveal that information as some mysterious were best left to the curiosity of mankind. Dracula didn’t believe that all puzzles should be solved. He enjoyed all the theories of her smile and it always tickled him for some reason. But that little tidbit of information weighed on the author’s mind like a math equation unsolved.
The master went to the side of the building and studied the frame a little more as Tanner’s voice reached them, something about what they were going to purchase first, and how they were going to celebrate the first of many evil accomplishments. Dracula prepared to give the building a mighty blow but then hesitated. “Piers, you are prepared to rush in and save the girl from falling debris and such.”
Piers nodded and Dracula immediately pulled three quarters of the face of the house off, and the author had to dodge the partial collapse that fell outwards. The master gestured for him to wait as he gave a kick and sent the remainder of its face flying some fifty feet across the road. The master gave a slight smile and nodded to indicate that entry was now permissible.
“What the fuck!” screamed Harris?
They blurred into the house with such speed that the dust flew into Tanner’s face as he exited a small brown room with peeling wall paper equipped with a sawed-off break-open shotgun. He aimed the gun at Piers but Dracula hit him so hard that he actually drove him partially through the dingy blue wall. He fell face down and lay prone on the floor, seriously hurt and unable to move much.
“Tanner!” Harris screamed as he rushed out of the washroom only to be slapped so hard by Piers that a bone in his face was crushed.
Shenna peeked around the corner from the dilapidated bedroom wearing nothing but a bed sheet, as the commotion had her frightened and trembling. “Are you the police?”
“No, but we are here to return you to your parents. Did they hurt you?”
“No, but they made me stay naked in the bedroom. They wouldn’t allow me to wear any clothes.” And with that she started to sob.
“Please don’t hurt me!” Harris was actually starting to shake with fear as he realized he was facing two angry vampires. “If you turn me I’ll be forever in your debt.”
Piers shook his head. “This guy is obviously a comedian. Get your clothes on little one; I’m going to take you outside to wait for the limo.”
Shenna backed up and closed the door the squalor she was forced to live in, and then emerged still frightened to follow Piers as he was a stranger and she didn’t trust him.
She thought that she would never trust anyone ever again. “What happened to the house?”
“I guess it collapsed.” Dracula whispered into the Shenna’s left ear and he nodded.
Piers led the girl outside and away from the building, a sufficient distance that she wouldn’t be able to hear any of the conversation about to take place inside. The night was commencing to cover itself in an atmosphere of fog.
What remained of the building shook violently. Dracula flew out in the form of a bat and headed towards Canada.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
JENNY WALLER RESTED on her multi-colored purple bedspread with her jewellery fabricating kit listening to Avril Lavigne’s What the Hell and kicking her feet. On the ceiling was a large poster of Justin Bieber. Her music helped her to concentrate her mental powers onto the pendants etched with bat skulls that were designed to hang on a person’s neck with a protective spell attached to it. It was powerful magic that she didn’t yet fully understand. It was peculiar feeling the flow of magic within her and yet not knowing her own capabilities. She was aware that books existed that could aid her, but had no idea where to find such knowledge.
The room was comfortably small. Her modern design black clothes bureau with four white drawers held a nice large mirror for her to preen in as she checked on her wardrobe. The walls and ceiling were a bright white. And a Dell laptop computer was situated on her black glass computer desk with its attached CPU stand.
“Not another stress headache.”
The 12-year-old, dressed in her Avril Lavigne white t-shirt and pink pajamas bottoms had discovered that the small carved oak skulls had to be done one at a time and it was terribly time consuming. The shiny wooden skulls had to be held in her right hand, held up to her forehead and focused upon for between ten and twelve hours. Once enchanted it was unknown how long the spell endured, and if it did indeed weaken over time, what was the timeframe? It was possible that it was an eternal spell but she really didn’t know. That really annoyed Jenny. Not knowing things wasn’t acceptable, but some things were either impossible to discover or at the very least extremely difficult. It would be extremely difficult for her to follow an enchanted vampire until the spell dissipated.
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