by CD Brown
As the body burnt itself out, she turned to Pamela. “I need to speak to the mayor.” Then her world went black for exhaustion.
She awoke in Fudgie’s bungalow. Pamela waited for her, her arm in a cast and sling.
“I went to the hospital. I was pretty sure you’d be safe here.”
“Glad that gamble paid off.”
“Do you want me to take you to the mayor’s mansion?”
“No. I want to go by myself.” Sophia rose and ran her hand through her hair. “Do I look alright?”
“No, but I don’t think I can brush it. I’m not very good with my left hand.”
“Let’s go to the office.”
After straightening up with Maisie’s help, Sophia called everyone in the company together.
“You may not like this Pamela, but I’m dissolving the council. We’re going back to the old way: open city.”
“Abraham’s not gonna like it.” Pamela looked annoyed, but also willing to listen.
“He’ll get it when I explain it to him. Anyway, get an e-mail or post or whatever together and let everyone know. The bosses will continue to meet so the air will remain clear, but anyone can do their own thing. I may be the sheriff, but I ain’t the boss.” That was David, she thought. She knew she was different from him. And from now on, the vision of how things got done would be hers.
“You want me to go?” Jeremiah looked ready to drive.
“No, I want to do this myself. I’ll call you when I’m done.”
With this, she stepped to the window, opened it, and turned into a bat. She took the winds, feeling happy for the first time in months.
Judy DelBarca was waiting on her porch as Sophia morphed from flying rodent to human. She laughed and shook her head.
“It’s so weird. Like a movie or something.”
“I hope you’re not too freaked out.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but most of the vampires I’ve met seem very cool.” She opened the front door. “Abraham is in the study waiting for you.”
The mayor brimmed with anger as Sophia walked in. He offered her a chair but was talking excitedly as she sat down.
“We had a deal. The videos, the paperwork. This is way too quick to go back on your word.”
“I understand your anger…”
“Do you? Do you really? They came to my house. Threatened my family.”
“Yes, they did. We did. Vamps just like me. They came here to show you how powerful they were. How powerful they could be. Because we’re monsters. We’re predators. And no matter how strong and influential you are, you’re still prey. No better than a duck on a pond or an antelope on the savannah. And they thought if they could just get it together, they could change the world, flip the script, and get you daywalkers to do their bidding. But they didn’t know how wrong they were.
“I’ve been undead for well over 100 years and I know what we really are. Loners. Solitary. Creatures who can’t leave the shadows. What we can’t admit is that you, you cattle, have the real power. You have freedom. You have movement. You have the sun. You live in a blink of our eye, yet we can never have what you have.”
“Life?”
“Exactly. The beating heart. Blood rushing through your veins. Real emotions not connected to hunger. But we’re trying. I’m trying. I probably won’t win. I can’t fight the instincts, the urges. But I’m better than I was ten years ago, twenty years ago. A few more decades, I could be just like you.”
“You’re closer than you think.” Abraham’s face had softened. “I will trust you.” He held out his hand and Sofia gripped it, sure but not tight. But his face focused down again. “But if something happens again, something where that many people are in danger, I will rain hell on you. Police, SWAT, the fucking army. Whatever it takes. That is on your head.”
“That’s why they pay me.” Sophia stood. “I’m the sheriff of mine. But you’re the mayor of us all.”
He nodded and Sophia left the room. As soon as she reached outside, she called Jeremiah, then turned bat again, flying due north towards the hills. Her eyes couldn’t see the city until she landed on the ledge of the Griffith Park Observatory and changed back.
She stared out into the twinkling valley, looking like a crazy star map for an extremely crowded universe. The whites, blues, reds and yellows guttered in the windy night, the thin layer of airborne particulates making for a roiling sensation. She thought of New Orleans and how few vantage points the city had, but here in her new city, she could see distant horizons. Miles of possibilities lay open for anyone ready to dream.
Had she finally settled? Would this be her future, all of this expanse awaiting her exploration? She had yet to make up her mind when Jeremiah called out. She turned and smiled, accepting his long-armed hug which no longer held as much warmth.
“How do you feel, boo?”
“Pretty funky, I guess. They kept throwing blood down my throat. Seems to do the trick.”
“You realize you’re gonna skip one of the big rites of passage?”
“The what now?”
“No killing humans. You’ll never get to do that.”
“I seen enough of that to last me forever. Or at least as long as I can dodge the stakes and sun.”
“You realize that’s gonna be a real long time, right?”
“Yeah. But I get to spend it with you.”
Sophia felt the emotional tug, even if her actual body didn’t react. “I may get sick of you. You may get sick of me. But we’ll just take it decade by decade. What do you say?”
He answered with a kiss and for once she let herself be fully taken with him, no strings of the past pulling her away.
She popped from his arms, saying, “Let me teach you how to turn into a bat.”
“Why?”
“Cause we’re gonna race.”
“You think you can beat me?”
“I know I can.”
And soon they were aloft, surfing the mountain winds, intent on moving as fast as they could and as far as they could before they’d have to retreat from the sun.
The End
Acknowledgments
While the process of writing a novel can sometimes seem as long as a vampire’s life, Vamp City was a relatively easy birth compared to some other works. But along the way, myriad helpers have pushed towards the publication.
First and foremost, my friends, colleagues, and instructors at the University of Southern California’s Masters of Professional Writing program (R.I.P.) helped me stretch from a novella writer to novelist. With their help and encouragement, I learned to not stop plotting at the screenplay length and push toward something deeper. With three books now under my belt, I think I’ve gotten it.
Thanks must also go to those who helped me financially and spiritually go back to graduate school, in particular, my mother Sheryl Brown and my late grandmother Marie “Mimi” Derbes. I must also thank my wife Paula Ellis Brown for uprooting her life not once but twice to become my partner. My love for her deepens the further we travel on this road. And also to my father Umpy Brown for keeping us buoyed when we need it.
While this novel can stand on its own, it is a sequel to the novelette “Quarter Moon.” Thanks to the creative team of editor Sue Baiman and artist Scott Pond who gets an additional shout out for helping spread the word about that work through his excellent street team. Their dedication to art and writing has helped many indie artists get where they need to be. As of the publication of this novel, both are suffering severe health problems, so I wish them strength from my heart and soul.
An especially warm shout out to those who keep me motivated: Paul Elard Cooley and Terry Mixon of the Dead Robots Society and their Facebook group; Dave Robison, my boss at Vex Mosaic, and his Facebook group RoTaNoWriMo who push each other to greater heights; and the new media creators of Balticon who collaborate, encourage, critique, and celebrate everything genre.
Finally, to David Wood for taking on my offbeat weirdness and
giving it a shot at publication. You are a good friend and I look forward to more collaborations as we both keep creating.
About the Author
CD Brown is a writer and filmmaker from New Orleans. He currently lives in Los Angeles where he received his Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California. He has made two feature films: “Angels Die Slowly” and “Never A Dull Moment: 20 Years of the Rebirth Brass Band.” His fiction has appeared in Conium Review, Oddville Press, Writing Disorder, Jersey Devil Press, The Menacing Hedge, Aethlon, and in the anthologies “Dimensional Abscesses” and “Nocturnal Natures.” He teaches composition, journalism, and production at a variety of colleges.
Works by C.D. Brown
Movies (as Charlie Brown):
Angels Die Slowly (available on Amazon)
Never a Dull Moment: 20 Years of the Rebirth Brass Band (available on YouTube)
Fiction (available on Amazon):
Vamp City
“The French Quarter Hustle” (novella)
“Fat City Blues” (novella)
“Quarter Moon” (novelette)
“Heart of Power” (short)
Humbert and McGee short story series:
“Hellhounds On My Tail”
“Season of the Itch”
