by David Kempf
Craig was unconscious. Nadah had hypnotized him. As far as he knew, he was the film director of a new major summer blockbuster.
“Please remember that this is a money maker and not another Oscar winner like your last five pictures,” said the assistant director.
“I would like to make a picture that is both a financial and critical success,” said Craig.
“You will,” said the cinematographer.
“Well, of course I will. There is a reason that I am known as the greatest filmmaker of all time!”
Craig was really busy with his latest project. He had come to love the life he led as a world renowned director and producer. When his picture finally wrapped, he knew he had to go to the wrap party and mingle. It was funny. Some of the people that used to be his idols now fought tooth and nail for an opportunity to meet the great Craig Houseman.
“It’s an honor to meet you,” said one of his idols.
“Well, thank you.”
“No it really is. Thanks for having our people set up this meeting, Mr. Houseman.”
Sometimes Craig had to pretend to be humble. He really knew that praise from his former idols was long, long overdue.
“I had the record for the most successful independent horror film before your movie came out several years ago.”
“Well, records were made to be broken. I paid homage to your movie when I made mine.”
“Yes.”
“I liked your original music back then.”
“Mr. Houseman, I know you were inspired by me but my music never won an Oscar like yours did.”
“I worked hard on that music.”
“Your music was better. It was more complex and haunting. You are a genius, Craig. Can I call you Craig?’
“I would prefer that you called me Mr. Houseman.”
“Can we have your agent set up a lunch appointment sometime next month to discuss the screenplay I wrote for you?’
“I think we better make it a late dinner.”
“Maybe we can have cocktails. Do you like to drink?”
“Oh, I do. I don’t drink mixed drinks.”
“Sir, it was an honor.”
“Yes, Craig, he thought to himself, it is an honor to meet the man who reinvented the entire cinematic horror genre.
“I set up all your appointments, Mr. Houseman. I also did your laundry and all your grocery shopping. Is there anything else I can do?’
“No. That will be all for today. You know you make a really wonderful servant, Al.”
“Thank you.”
“Yes. It’s hard to believe that you were once my film instructor.”
“Thanks for taking pity on me and allowing me to have the distinct privilege of working for you.”
“No problem. You make a fine servant for me.”
Perhaps the best part of having all your dreams come true is a moment like this one. When Craig thought about how Al Candy waited on his every beck and call, he smiled. They say that living well is the best revenge. If that was true, than what he had was sweet, sweet revenge indeed.
“See you tomorrow, Al. Come by in the evening.”
“Yes, Mr. Houseman. Thank you.”
There were many occasions when Craig thought that he might want to kill Al Candy for complete vengeance. Why should such a fool have ever been allowed to teach students the sacred art of film? It was better to make him suffer. There was nothing on Earth that more resembled Hell than for an arrogant man to have to endure being a humble servant. Candy was actually a lot more like a slave than a mere servant. Craig knew exactly how to make this man suffer.
Candy rang the doorbell to Craig’s mansion.
“Hello, Mr. Houseman?”
“Come on in, Art.”
The former film professor walked over to Craig. He smiled and brought him all his laundry.
“It’s all here, sir.”
“Thanks.”
“Is there anything else I can do for you right now?”
“Yes.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I need a guarantee.”
“I’m sorry?”
“There are certain guarantees I need in my servant, Al. I mean, I can have as many servants as I want. I can have butlers and maids from England or anywhere else in the world. I would prefer to have you and you alone. I need guarantees.”
“What kind of guarantees?”
“The kind of guarantees that assure me you will be working for me for a long, long time to come.”
“I would like to, Mr. Houseman, but I’m an old man. I think that I will have to retire next year.”
“No. I think that doesn’t work for me.”
“Sir, time catches up with everyone.”
“No. Time catches up with almost everyone, but not me.”
Craig revealed his razor sharp teeth to Candy.
“My God, you’re a monster.”
“No! I am not a monster. They are nothing but fictitious fairly tales. I am a vampire!”
“Please, sir. Don’t hurt me.”
“Vampires drink the blood of the living to ensure themselves eternal life. They can offer anyone eternal life as well.”
“Are you offering me eternal life?”
“No.”
“Then you mean to kill me, Craig.”
“Mr. Houseman.”
“You mean to kill me, Mr. Houseman.”
“No!”
“What are going to do?”
“I’m offering you eternal servitude.”
“No! Please just kill me instead.”
“Sorry, it doesn’t work like that. If you won’t submit to my wishes, then I will be spending a lot of quality time with your family.”
“Please!”
“No. You will live long enough to watch your entire family be wiped off the globe. Anyone with a drop of your ancestral blood will be extinct. I will see to that.”
“Okay, you win. I’ll be your undead servant.”
“You’re my undead servant now. What you are going to become is my eternal servant.”
Al Candy became a legend among vampires. Not for reasons of conquest or because he was fierce. He was a legend because he had eternal life without any of its benefits. As time went by, he nearly went mad as he watched his family and friends die.
“Please kill me. Craig, I don’t want to go on.”
“I know you don’t. You know, Al, I made a promise to you centuries ago and I kept it. I told you that you would not have to watch your family fall into extinction. They are still around even to this day.”
“They are around but I’ve watched everyone I’ve ever cared about die. Don’t you regret outliving all your family and friends?”
“Vampires have no friends and I’ve always hated my family. So I guess the answer would have to be no.”
“You’re a fiend, Craig.”
“Yes. I am. I am a natural born fiend.”
“Yes,” said Nadah.
“Choose me,” said Craig.
“There is still so much more to show you,” she said.
Craig’s unconscious mind was truly revealing itself to the vampire. She thought that Doug’s mind was interesting but it was also decadent and lazy. Anyone can have buckets of blood fed to them by filthy servants all night long. Craig had the true sadism required to be a creature of the night. However, since Nadah had been repressed when she was human, there was a special place in her black heart for the decadent.
“The dream is almost over. Am I going to wake up soon?”
“Yes, Doug. Soon you will be awake and alive.”
“Who are you?’
“Nadah Manji.”
“Where do you come from?”
“Morocco.”
“How old are you?”
“I am very old. The Berbers were fighting the Crusaders in Spain when I was alive.”
“Were you someone important?”
“No. My family had no money. They sold me into a harem when I
was a young woman.”
“Why did they do that?” Doug asked.
“We were poor and the only thing I had was my beauty to offer the sheik. There was nothing else we had that was worth anything to him. My father cried when he gave up his only daughter to the sheik.”
“Was the sheik kind?”
“No.”
“What was he like?”
“He had one of the largest harems in Morocco. I believe it was around a thousand or more wives.”
“How did he even notice you?”
“I was cursed to be his favorite.”
“How terrible that must have been,” said Doug.
“Yes.”
“How did you become a vampire?”
“The sheik returned from a battle one night. He told me that he wanted to show something to me. Other women wanted to know what it was but he chastised them. He said it was for Nadah and only Nadah.”
“I see.”
“You see he had come to love his Spanish enemy. The two of them loved war and death so much that they almost formed a bizarre kind of brotherhood.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“You see, sometimes hate is so intense between two enemies that it borderlines on love. That’s what the sheik and the crusader had between them.”
“Okay.”
“He called me in to his private chamber and said he had a secret. First, he told me that I was his favorite, which was very unfortunate for me. There were so many girls in his harem that some were fortunate enough to never have slept with him at all. The sheik told me that all the other girls in his harem would die. He said they did not deserve eternal life. I asked him if he believed in the afterlife. The sheik said he was not sure.”
“When did he become a vampire?”
“He was already a vampire when he told me this. He showed his fierce teeth to me and said that we would be together forever. Then he told me that it was his enemy who bit him several nights before. The sheik said he loved the new creature he had become. He and his enemy designed a certain truce during wartime. It was a truce between two vampires who loved bloodshed. They agreed not to execute their prisoners of war.”
“So they drank the blood of their enemies.”
“Yes.”
“They liked being vampires.”
“They loved being vampires. It was the fortunate men who died in battle instead of having to be fed to their enemies. The ones who were caught would sometimes stay alive for weeks. I saw this firsthand. The strange thing was that I didn’t even feel the sheik bite my throat. The only time he was ever gentle with me was when he made me a vampire.”
“Did you drink the blood of the prisoners?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose it was the only way you could stay alive,” said Doug.
“Vampires cannot survive very long on animal blood. One can live on the blood of animals for a few months perhaps, but that’s it.”
“Human blood is necessary for life.”
“Yes. The blood is the life.”
“I’m going to ask a question that I already know the answer to. You killed the sheik. I know you did. Somehow, I know you did.”
“Yes, of course I killed him.”
“I don’t need to ask what you did. Based on your description of him, most people would have done the same.”
“You still don’t know why I killed or how. I would like to tell you the rest of the story.”
“I would love to hear it,” said Doug.
“I had learned to live with his mistreatment of me, both as a human and as an undead creature. The one thing I could not stand was the idea of him prostituting me to someone else.”
“You mean his enemy.”
“That’s precisely what happened. He said he would share me with his enemy. I told him that I refused and he laughed at me. The sheik said I had no choice in the matter and that the crusader would enjoy using me as he pleased.”
“He was a true monster.”
“The sheik was monstrous even for one of our kind! He even said that I would have to stay an additional month with his enemy because I talked back to him. It was unbearable so I formed a plan. It was simple. I pretended that I was sorry for being insubordinate to him. Then I spoke words of great praise for him and the other warlord. Finally, I thanked him for the great gift of eternal life.”
“So flattery was his undoing.”
“It certainly was a significant part of his undoing. The sheik threw a grand party the night before I was to be given to his enemy. The humans were feasting on meat cooked over an open fire.”
“Can vampires eat, Nadah?”
“Yes, they can. Food is not nearly as enjoyable as the taste of blood, but we can eat and drink what we please.”
“The vampire still had a taste for food and wanted to eat with his soldiers. So he ate what he wanted. The sheik had a love of fine meats. While he was being a glutton, I noticed how close to the fire he was sitting.”
“I see.”
“I simply pushed him in and watched him burn. Since the fire was huge, it didn’t take very long for him to die.”
“What about his soldiers?”
“They were in shock that a woman would kill her master like that. He got up briefly and tried to walk but then just fell down.”
“There was no eternal life for him.”
“I showed my teeth to the soldiers and they were terrified. I told them to leave and that I was in league with the evil one. Then they fled in terror. I drug what was left of him and let the fire finish its noble task.”
“Then you left.”
“I left very soon after I killed him.”
“Is fire the thing that can kill a vampire?”
“Yes.”
“What about sunlight?”
“No. That’s just a myth. We are weak during the day like humans are when they are tired. Vampires don’t burn from sunlight.”
“What about crosses, crucifixes or holy water?”
“They’re all myths from the middle ages. I was never even a Christian. Why would I fear the cross?”
“I suppose I won’t even ask about garlic.”
“No.”
“What if a vampire is decapitated?” Doug asked Nadah.
“Even then, the head of the vampire can live for centuries. Most of the time the victim asks for his head to be burned so they can die. It’s an excruciating and humiliating way to spend eternity.”
“Does God exist?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about Satan?’
“I don’t know.”
“Please finish your story.”
“I watched his remains burn in the fire and then I learned a new skill.”
“Which was?”
“I learned to turn myself into a bat and flew away.”
“Nadah, I’ve wanted to fly away my whole life.”
“I know. Erase any further questions you have from your mind. You are going to wake up soon.”
“Who was that old man in the coffin?” asked Craig.
“He was my lover, a great man he was,” Nadah said.
“If he was a great man, then why did you let the sunlight wipe him from all existence?”
“I didn’t.”
“He looked dead to us.”
“I told you sunlight doesn’t kill vampires.”
“Then you killed him yourself like you did the sheik.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I burned him alive after you left.”
“What was his name?”
“Vincent.”
“Nadah, Vincent thought that sunlight could kill vampires.”
“I fooled him and controlled him by convincing him we could die by sunlight just as they do in books and movies.”
“Why?”
“It was amusing to me. Besides, we were never really around any other vampires much. The others who kept company with us were in on my little jok
e. Do you understand?”
“I think so. Why did you kill him?”
“As I said before, he was a good man. He was, however, a terrible and miserable vampire.”
“He didn’t want to die, Nadah.”
“You knew him better than I?”
“Now, I didn’t say that.”
“He was afraid of death but only because he was over two hundred years old. Vincent wanted to become a vampire because he was an old man when he was bitten by me.”
“He begged for his life.”
“A coward should never have been allowed to become a vampire. I should have left him alone as a scared old man.”
“I heard his voice in my head after he died. Do all vampires have this ability?’
Nadah laughed. “No. That was my voice in your head. I thought it would be amusing.”
“Why make him suffer?”
“I have a taste for it. He made others suffer so he deserved to suffer as well. Everyone deserves to suffer, both human and vampire.”
“What do my friend and I have to do with this?”
“Your friend and you have now both seen what life as a vampire can be like. Therefore, you are not friends any longer. You are competitors.”
“This was no mistake. You wanted us to meet you from the beginning.”
“Yes. I am looking for a new companion.”
“What if we say no,” asked Craig.
“You won’t.”
“Maybe we’ll stand up to you,” Craig said defiantly.
“No. You want to be a vampire. Both of you do.”
“Maybe we don’t,” said Doug.
“Rise from your sleep, mortals!”
Craig and Doug were now both awake. It seemed like they had both been asleep for years, but it was moments. They were terrified by Nadah’s ability to get inside their minds. It was horrifying that she could apparently read their thoughts.
“Let’s kill her,” said Doug.
Craig had a stake in one hand and a bottle of holy water in his other hand.
“What are you doing?”
“What’s it look like, Doug?”
“Those things won’t kill a vampire.”
“She’s a liar, Doug. So I’m thinking that maybe, just maybe these things really do kill bloodsuckers.”
Doug looked at Craig, wanting to believe him.
“You want to kill me? I don’t know why. Craig, you’re not even immortal yet.”
