“Sid?”
Joy’s hand missed Sid’s shoulder. Sid was already walking away, walking faster than normal pace, but still passing for human, if anyone wanted to notice her. But whoever would glance at her was anyway only taking in her green mohican. Some things never changed…….
Joy rushed, bumping against the people closing the gap in the wake of her monster, ignoring their vocalized complaints. Since when do I care, I am as much a monster as Sid is now! The crowd unconsciously parting ahead of the young vampire and her fiery hunger. On stage, another song was lifting up to the sky, flowing up through the ceiling, breaking sound barriers. Joy was not listening anymore, the pace was increasing away from her. Hunger was turning into a tidal wave, engulfing Sid’s failing consciousness. Joy sped up, faster than human, causing a commotion that was barely rippling by the instant she caught up with Sid, faced her and opposed her:
“No!”
Sid laughed: “What do you care? I’ll be happy to share with you!”
Joy’s facial features hardened:
“No.”
Sid’s smile died slowly, rage burst out with her voice:
“Who are you to oppose me?”
“I am your sire.”
The words had barely crossed Joy’s lips, carrying all her power and might, when Sid’s backhand caught her across the face, flinging her against several rows of people, like a bowling ball striking bowling pins. She stood back up automatically, in one swift movement and threw herself at the writer, with all the undead strength in her body. She felt like she had hit a cliff…….
A circle started to open around them. The band kept on with their song, still unaware. Frank and Stacee felt the ripple in the crowd and turned around to look. Sid and Joy levitated up, locked in their struggle. And the punters, row by row, started to look up in awe. And the singer let her voice fade out at the sight. The musicians joined her in her amazed silence, one by one.
Sid roared with fury when Joy threw her against a wall. She only bounced back. To beat Joy with a mighty fist in the chest, which would have definitely terminated someone else’s breathing. As swiftly, hitting faster than a human eye could see, the side of her other hand hit Joy’s neck. Joy fell to the ground. Only to be gently picked up by Death herself. The crowd around them, the band on stage, looked frozen in time and space. Sid’s face turned around to see a smiling Life levitating alongside her.
CHAPTER SIX
“What’s that?” The vampire snarled, her nose hardly an inch away from the entity’s nose. “A rock and roll intervention?”
“Oh, my sweet Sid,” Death replied with an amused smile. “It is, if you want it to be! Why don’t you go and sit down on the stage with Life while I’m having a quick chat with Joy.” Death shifted her eyes from the incandescent Sid to the still-a-bit-stunned Joy. But Sid the vampire didn’t like being dismissed. She growled and threw herself at Death with every intention of beating her down to a pulp and probably knocking a few frozen punters off for good measures, including her friends Tracee and Frank.
Before she knew it, Life had thrown her through the air. She landed in the midst of the drum kit in a crash of cymbals and thrashing of toms, killing the snare, unhinging the hi-hat and barely missing the shaved-head drummer hired for the occasion (the gig, not the fight). Life was already bending at the waist, her hand extended down towards her to help her up. Fury made the vampire snarl and she refused the friendly hand.
Amongst the frozen punters, Death and Joy were taking a walk, always finding a path between the absurd bodies.
“Joy,” Death started, seriousness in her voice. “You spelled chaos when you turned Sid into a vampire.” Shushing the vampire with a wave of her left hand, she went on: “I know, you never meant to. You acted on impulse. But you spelled chaos. We were going to let Sid die on that evening. She had earned it. Besides, I spent so many millennia playing Death, I had decided to retire. So, yes, you threw quite a spanner there.”
“What do you mean? You were going to grant Sid’s wish? Why? After so many years turning her down!”
“By the way, did I forget to mention? Life is retiring, too. Oh, not to worry. Our replacements are already planned. They’ve been training since night one of their assignments.”
“Ok. But, all this as nothing to do with me. Except for Sid…….”
“We’ll get there. Let me explain first. You abandoned Sid.” Joy looked away. “You were afraid. Afraid of yourself, weren’t you.” Joy was looking away, silently. “You’re a vampire. You’re supposed to have no soul. No heart? I doubt it. It was simply frozen. Petrified with cruelty. Cruelty is necessary for a vampire. Without cruelty, you cannot kill. If you cannot kill, you cannot feed. But, these, Joy, were the old ways. You know that. No matter how much fun you had leaving a trail of dead corpses, you adapted. Feeding was still fun. What do you think happened to you?”
Joy’s eyes turned back to the stage where Sid was silently, albeit rather disgruntled, sitting with Life. Stubborn silence shaping the young vampire’s body.
“You fell in love. Yes, Joy, you did. You fell in love with Sid. Strange feeling, isn’t it? You didn’t know this feeling. You had never experienced it while alive. You knew what it was to love, as you loved your children. But love, in love…….” Death let her voice trailed with innuendos. While Joy considered the meaning of this statement. She didn’t want it to be true, but she couldn’t deny it either. It felt scary. Death resumed: “Scary, isn’t it?” Joy looked at her. “It’s ok, Joy. And this is why you ran away without a word. This is why you abandoned Sid…… Now, Joy, as you must remember, you had quite a good life. Even if you never fell in love back then. Oh, you certainly did like your many lovers, but I’d be surprised if you really remembered what most of them looked like.”
Joy frowned. What did this matter anyway, a century later? Her past lovers were all dead and dusted. So what.
“What’s your point?”
Death smiled:
“Now, this is a Joy I recognize. Direct. We’ll get to that point, but later. What you would like to know now, is what happened to Sid after your sudden departure…… What made her turn into such a monster.” The sadness in Death’s voice surprised Joy. “She believed in you, Joy. As much as she believed in me. Except that, with me, she knew waiting was the name of the game. You, you felt solid, you were always turning up at some point. She was unconsciously relying on you. And even if she never acknowledged it even to herself ─you didn’t read it in her diary─ she felt betrayed. Betrayed by someone she had learned to trust. To trust with her life…… Yes. Ironic, isn’t it. But remember, Joy, Sid, when alive, suffered from depression. She was isolated. As you know, Sid never had any real understanding of the real world. She could never belong. Her entire life. Even as a child. You turn up, exotic by nature, as different as her even if in a different way. She did fall for you, too, you know. But she didn’t run away…….”
“And that, my abandoning her, made her the monster she is?”
“Well……. Depression is a form of emotional exhaustion. Ultimately, it did make her the vampire she is. Your abandonment of her was just one of the triggers.”
“One of them?”
“Yes. What happened next……. Or, let me correct, what did not happen next, is a social structure. Didn’t you notice, when you read her diary, that she stopped mentioning her friends, one by one? You abandoned her, you ran away from her, and her friends, not deliberately though, abandoned her, too.”
Joy looked at the sulking young vampire again. There was no trace of the whale left in Sid, she was …….like a werewolf possessed by the full moon. The old vampire’s eyes went back to Death, then looked at the floor sticky with spilled beer. Eventually, Joy spoke:
“So, where do you think we go from there? What’s your plan? Because I am sure as hell you didn’t show up at this gig just for the love of music.”
Death laughed. It sounded like a sweet ripple in the air. Even Sid looked at her, surp
rised, and for a second or two, her face softened.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I believe this is our cue.”
The vampires both looked up, surprise painted across their faces, to watch the five entities walk towards Death and stop just a few feet away. By then, they had all slid into a parallel dimension, where the frozen punters were unsubstantial ghosts floating across the air. Joy stared at the newcomers, wondering which one had spoken. They were totally look-alike and genderless, expressionless and synchronized. Hairless, shiny faces with eyes of steel. Perfectly smooth bodies sporting simple, black clothing. When they heard the eerie voice again, Joy and Sid saw that They were speaking in unison, with a medium pitch that gave no hint.
“We guess that poker games are becoming redundant and obsolete again. What are your claims?” Death opened her mouth, but They interrupted her before she could even utter a word. “We do not want to hear it from you, Death. We want to hear Life’s take on this one first.”
Every eye turned to Life. She gracefully jumped off the edge of the stage, took a deep breath and infused concentration in her facial features, before answering formally:
“Once upon a time, I became Life and served a few millennia of time. And…….” She hesitated, breathed deeply again and resumed. “I now wish to retire and ask for my Boon.”
“We see. Once again, following Death’s lead……. And who is your Boon?”
Life’s eyes went to Joy. Sid stared, arching her eyebrows. Joy blinked, startled in sudden comprehension. Death didn’t move. They scratched Their heads in total synchronization before bringing Their collective attention to Death. Death nodded before answering with the ritual sentence to the silent demand.
“I now wish to retire and ask for my Boon.”
“We know who your Boon is.”
They surprisingly laughed, a crystal sound flowing with warmth and delicacy, and smiled. It didn’t seem to fit Their features. Maybe too big, or maybe too small. It was difficult to figure it out. Seriousness befell Their features again.
“Do we grant or do you challenge? Do we redeem or do you pay? You were the best Life and Death of all times and you wish to retire?!” Thunder in the united voices. Death and Life looked back without a word. They scoffed, almost looking bored. “Death, we understand. Sid is not an unexpected Boon. But you, Life. Joy as your Boon?! What did we miss? Tell us. Tell Joy.” Everyone heard the echo, the hint of threat.
Life walked towards the bemused Joy and looked into her eyes intently. Joy wondered. Don’t tell me. Not Life. I would remember! But she did not remember. Death was right. How could she remember. She had had so many lovers…….
Life let a gentle hand rest on one of the vampire’s shoulders. Joy stared back into Life’s blue eyes and saw……. One of her many lovers. Yes……. A long time ago, a lifetime away. She remembered eyes calling for her attention across a ballroom, a radiant smile capturing her imagination. The human Jasmine had felt passionate for the offered tenderness. She had enjoyed the nights, until her lover had murmured softly that she had to leave, even if she wished to stay. Duty, a higher calling, was requiring her elsewhere. She was hoping to reunite one day…
“My Sweet Jasmine……..” The entity whispered, breaking the stream of memories. “You were so young……. If only you had died a natural death…….” And looked away.
“Does your Boon agree to the deal? Oh, she doesn’t really know what it entails. Nor yours, Death.”
“We haven’t had the chance to explain yet,” Death replied.
“Are you challenging us?”
“No. You are granting and redeeming. We have served our purpose for millennia.”
There was silence around everyone, and a chill, while a staring match was taking place. They suddenly laugh again.
“Have you planned the next Death and the next Life?”
“Yes! Our replacements are perfectly suitable.”
“Reincarnation and happiness ever after? Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Death answered.
“Oh, let’s get on with it then! Your Boons will like it anyway. Are you ready?”
“Yes.” This time Life spoke.
“Then, so be it…….”
And the world went dark around them…….
EPILOGUE
And so it came to pass that among the new births daily occurring on the planet Earth, four specific beings came to life, crying out for each other without knowing it yet.
The simultaneous events took effect in London, UK; Santacruz, California; Flagstaff, Arizona; Hanover, Germany. They grew up in their various cities, thriving to learn and excel in artistic, intellectual, paranormal and alternative fields, always active in their respective communities and at the same time always apart from their peers. They grew up, feeling different, feeling thirsty for knowledge and new horizons, balanced and at the same time feeling like some vital parts were missing from their lives.
They each had the opportunities to start traveling at an early age, enjoying the wealth of cultures and the broadening of their minds, often seemingly ahead of their time. Internet being a tool with marvelous potential, they started spotting each other’s names online just after their twentieth birthdays.
They eventually met one summer in the midst of the Vancouver Folk Festival. The rest, My Friend, is, as They say, History…….
###
About the Author
Little is known about the apparently quiet W. Freedreamer Tinkanesh. The few unearthed bones are still disconnected: dreams, books, no gender, tattoos, wolves, invisible energies, permanent puzzlement. W would be (in alphabetical order) a versatile artist, a chocolate fiend, an independent musician, and a tree hugger.
The cats know more, but refuse to talk: one will stare you down; the other one will fight you.
W’s writings have appeared in unknown, obscure zines and in the last ten years in various anthologies: ‘Write Now’ (UK, 2001), ‘Threads’ (UK, 2009, edited by Cassandra Lee aka Shawn-A-Lee McCutcheon-Bell), ‘Eclectica’ (2011, edited by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc), ‘No One Gets Out Alive’ (2012, edited by Hydra M. Star).
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