by David Kempf
Craig threw holy water on Nadah’s face and she screamed in great pain.
“You did it, Craig!” Doug shouted.
“I haven’t done it yet.”
Craig plunged the stake he was holding through Doug’s heart.
“Why?” Doug asked.
The last thing Doug heard before he died was Nadah’s voice. She got up off the ground, laughing.
“Eternal life is why. That’s why he did it,” she said.
“I knew you would pretend the holy water would harm you,” said Craig.
“I couldn’t resist. It was very amusing,” said Nadah.
Before Craig could seriously think about what he had done to his best friend, Nadah began to change.
“Oh, my God,” said Craig.
Nadah’s skin changed color and she grew enormous wings. Her fangs grew larger and she let out a terrible shriek.
“You’re a bat!”
Nadah turned into a giant bat and carried Craig with her. They flew up high into the mountains.
“Please, put me down!”
Nadah landed on the ground in the woods. She gently placed Craig down and before he knew it…she was Nadah again.
“You changed so quickly.”
“Yes.”
“What happens now?”
Before Craig could finish his question, Nadah bit deeply into his neck. He had never felt such extraordinary pain.
“Please stop, I don’t want this!”
“Yes, you do!”
She sucked the blood out of his neck and he felt faint.
“What happens now?”
“Now it’s your turn.”
Nadah ripped a piece of flesh from her own throat and allowed Craig to drink from her wound. The blood poured and poured. The more Craig drank, the thirstier he became. It was an insatiable thirst!
“It’s so good, I want more. I need more of your blood.”
“The blood is the life,” said Nadah.
“Can I have more?”
“I have no more to give.”
“I thirst.”
“You will get more when you get cravings to kill your first victim.”
“That shouldn’t be hard. I already killed my best friend.”
Nadah was fascinated by Craig’s oddly still human emotions. He began to cry.
“I killed Doug,” he wept.
“In my visions, Doug would have been a decadent monster. He wanted to kill you but you beat him to it. You are stronger and wiser than him. That’s why I chose you.”
“I thought I made the choice by killing him.”
“You did. Get it all out of your mind. In two days time you won’t even be the same species.”
“No?”
“No! You need to get used to being a vampire now, Craig. That’s exactly what you are. Everything about your old life must be left behind.”
“Who should I feed on first?”
“I would recommend that you feed on the blood of your family first. Then I would say you should feed on all remaining friends and acquaintances.”
“No. That’s out of the question.”
“Okay. The ultimate decision, of course, rests with you.”
“I should think. Not only am I not going to hurt my family; I will visit them one final time.”
“No! Your family will want to save you if they find out you are one of us. Even if that’s not true, they will want to know where you are. You will be a wanted man and we cannot afford that.”
“So it’s just you and me.”
“That’s the way right now. Eventually you will be alone and you can choose a companion for yourself.”
“I choose a family member.”
“No.”
“I thought these choices were mine.”
“No family or friends. You must choose your companions more logically. Never choose emotionally.”
“I guess it won’t matter much soon. I have fond memories of this mountain.”
“What is this mountain called?”
“It’s called Bear Claw Mountain.”
Nadah smiled.
“Like the hayride and the community college, it holds great memories for me,” Craig added.
“These human memories are nothing. You are nothing but a moth but you are going to be transformed into a beautiful, dark butterfly.”
“I see,” Craig said sadly.
“No, but you will. I promise you that,” said Nadah.
“I will learn or die.”
“Yes. Craig, you are beginning to learn already.”
“Thanks.”
“Craig, you will be a true….”
“I will be a true what? A true friend, you mean? Nadah.”
“Yes?”
“I need to be alone for a day or two.”
“Yes. You need to be alone for a while. Craig, you need to come to grips with what you are. What you are becoming!”
“Two nights from now we can meet again. See you then, Nadah.”
“Farewell until then, my sweet.”
There would be no eternal servitude for Al Candy. There was no particularly vengeful execution of his death either. It was short and sweet. Craig was amazed at his indifference. The fact was that he was bitten by Nadah the night before and he still wasn’t quite a vampire yet. Candy got his throat cut with an ordinary knife anyone would have in a civilized kitchen. It was that simple.
“Hello, mother, it’s me.”
“Craig, where have you been?”
“I’ve been out.”
“Out with Doug?”
“Yes.”
“Where is Doug now?”
“He’s dead.”
“Oh dear God, he’s dead.”
“Yes.”
“How did he die?”
“I drove a stake through his heart.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t do that to you mom.”
Craig sank his teeth deep into his mother’s throat. Her warm blood was very, very soothing and nurturing.
“Craig. Why?” she cried.
“Sleep now. Sleep forever. You gave me life. It’s only fitting that you be the first one to give me life eternal.”
In mere moments, she was dead.
“The blood is the life.”
Craig’s father and sister pulled up in the driveway. He heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening. Then his dad used the key to open the front door. It was something he had heard countless times before. Everything seemed the same for a brief instant. Then he looked down at his mother’s corpse. Craig realized he was still licking his mother’s blood off his lips.
“Craig?’
“Hello. Come in, Dad.”
Craig reached over and broke his father’s neck. It was very simple. No pain, just unconsciousness. Craig’s sister was not quite as lucky.
“My God, Mom and Dad are dead!”
“It’s not what you think.”
“What happened?”
“It’s not what it looks like.”
“Craig, what are you talking about?”
“You probably think some burglar came in or it was some sort of accident. It wasn’t. I killed Mom and Dad.”
“What?”
“I killed them because I’m a vampire.”
“What?’
“See.”
Craig’s teeth were now very large. They were the size of keys and sharp as a razor.
“Vampires kill everyone. They need blood even it that means killing their own families.”
Craig broke his sister’s neck. Both his father and sister were dead quicker than his mother. It was simple. No problems.
“I’m sorry, everyone. I can’t have mortal attachments if I am going to be one of the immortals.”
The blood from his family members was racing through his veins. It gave him great power. Craig, using only minimal concentration, managed to turn himself into a bat. He flew all over his hometown. Craig preyed upon every friend, neighbor a
nd acquaintance he had. He knew the next morning the police were going to be very busy. When he was finished with his bloodbath, he felt full. Then he flew back up into the mountains to meet Nadah.
“You killed your whole family?”
“Yes.”
“So, your parents and your sister?”
“Yes. Then I killed almost everyone in town I knew.”
“How many people are dead?”
“I guess about thirty or so.”
“Monstrous!”
“Yes.”
“Did you feel incredible guilt?”
“No.”
“Why do you suppose you didn’t feel a deep, terrible sense of shame?”
“I don’t know. I guess because I’ve moved up the food chain now. It’s strange. I’ve become an orphan and it’s my own evil doing.”
“Yes! You’re free to do whatever you choose now.”
“I suppose I am. If matricide doesn’t bother my conscience, then nothing ever will.”
“That’s your great strength. Only the strongest survive as a vampire. Nothing else but ruthlessness and mercilessness will do.”
“I don’t doubt that!”
“So you have no problems turning yourself into a bat?”
“No. I can do it, Nadah.”
“Excellent. Then we can fly to my boat to sail to Morocco. It’s a lovely vessel. When you see my island in the Atlantic Ocean, you won’t believe how beautiful it is.”
“I can’t wait.”
“You masquerade is finally over, Craig.”
“What masquerade?”
“You’re a fiend, Craig.”
“Yes, I am.”
Craig smiled at Nadah. He truly loved being a vampire. Deep in his heart he knew that he would be alive until the end of all life on the planet. Craig and Nadah changed into bats and started their long journey to the ocean.
Chapter 4
The Damned Winner
By Christopher Wisdom
“I see,” said the Devil. He was looking at me to see if he could read my mind. I knew the rules, though. He can tempt, influence, corrupt and do many other evil things. I knew the one thing he couldn’t do was read my mind or anyone else’s.
“You’ve never won a single contest. You want me to help you win this one at all cost. You know, of course, what the cost will be?”
“Let me guess, my soul?’
“Yes, my boy. For the price of your soul, you can finally be the big winner. You won’t have to watch any more hacks win the prize.”
I knew I had to take him up on this deal. That was perhaps the saddest thing of all. My entire life has been spent dreaming of being a big movie director. What a joke! I couldn’t even win the damned short film contests. I’ve tried for years to do so. I tried when I was only 13 years old. We used super-8 films in those days. I made little three-minute horror films with my neighborhood friends. Each year we entered the contest. Each year we lost. It got far worse as I got older. When I was in my teens and twenties, we entered video contests. I even took a few film and video courses at college.
“Do we have a deal or are you still thinking about it?”
It was a fair question and I was still thinking about it. In my early thirties, horror magazines and web sites offered their contests. This time you could go digital and enter your DVD into the competition. Worst of all, they could sell you the DVD of last year’s winners. You had to pay to see the people who beat you in the contest. I must admit that each Halloween when the winners were put on DVD, I was usually not that impressed. There were usually at least one or two winners I thought were not as good as the movie that I had entered into the contest.
“Yes…of course…it’s a deal.”
All that time I spent going to the movies. All the horror, science fiction, adventure, and I could only watch. I could never really be a part of it. This was my childhood. I guess I thought that being inspired was the same as developing talent. Talent! I could never get over the lousy movies I saw win some of these damn contests.
How bad were the winners?
Last year, there was a movie about a guy who lost his hand in an accident. Guess what happens? His hand follows him around for the rest of the short move. How original.
“What is your award winning short film going to be about?” the Devil asked.
I couldn’t help myself. I started to laugh.
“It’s about an amateur filmmaker who always loses short film contests. He sells his soul to Satan to win.”
“Sounds like a good project, Andrew.”
This was truly going to be a dark miracle. I was finally going to be a winner after being a loser my whole life. Now, the guy with whom I’ve been making short movies my whole life is the textbook definition of a loser. Karl. He’s 39 and hasn’t had a job in almost a decade. Karl dropped out of college and quit every job he has ever had. He has always been willing to participate in our failed attempts at filmmaking. He’s also always willing to drink and party. It’s just work that he’s religiously avoided. At least, this time, we were going to finally win. Karl was going to have one success in his pathetic life. We had a lot of work to do, but this time the work was going to pay off with sweet success. The prize was going to be ours for the cost of my soul.
Karl and I made the movie in record time. We filmed it in digital and hired a video company to create computer animated effects for us. Our digitally created Satan was terrifying!
“This is the best one we’ve ever made, Andy!”
“Yes, Karl. This is the best one ever!”
The day finally came. I opened up my mail and read the letter I’ve been waiting to read my entire life.
“Congratulations, you have been selected as this year’s grand prize winner for Blood Magazine’s short video contest.”
They sent a staff writer to interview Karl and me. We were going to be featured on the DVD which will come out on, of course, Halloween! There was a great interview with us and a short making-of documentary. My family and friends were stunned. Karl’s family was speechless. Did this mean some movie studio was going to discover our talent?
“It’s only a matter of time now, Andy. When some big producer sees our movie and recognizes our talent, it will be a great day.”
That day never came. I still had to work at my same stupid job. Karl continued to avoid work but this time with the lame excuse that he broke into show business.
Suddenly, I heard a knock at the door. It was him. The door opened up as if by magic. He was dressed in a black suit and he brought his black briefcase with him.
“We have a business deal to finish, Andrew. I delivered my part of the bargain and, I’m sorry to say but now it’s time for you to live up to your end of our agreement.”
I didn’t know it would all happen so soon. We won the contest and we were on a DVD from which we didn’t get a penny. All this so-called exposure and it would ultimately lead to nothing at all. Well, not ‘anything.’ It would lead to my eternal damnation.
“Go ahead and collect. Hell can’t be any worse than the life I have now,” I said.
Satan laughed. “Oh…you really don’t think so? How about a brief glimpse of eternity in the lake of fire? You’ll get a good idea of what damnation means when you see this coming attraction….”
The Devil touched my hand. Suddenly, I felt like I was awake and dreaming at the same time. The vision I received was a thousand times worse than my worst nightmare. I saw hundreds of people screaming in agony. Fire burned them, but their bodies never died. Screams of terror echoed throughout all of Hell. The lake of fire appeared to be endless; devils laughed at the eternal suffering of human souls. It was more horrifying than any sermon ever described. It was more evil and terrifying than any religious painting. It was Hell…and I would be arriving shortly.
Satan let go of my hand and I fell on the floor. I knew that he did not have the power to read minds, but he already knew what I was going to ask next.
“Is there a
ny way out of this deal? I suppose that’s what you are going to ask me,” he said. “Now that you know what Hell really is.”
“Yes…I’ll do anything, please, I can’t go to Hell!”
“Oh, but you will…your soul belongs to me now. I have the contract you signed in my briefcase. However, if you would like to postpone your journey by say…forty years or so, we can come to a new arrangement.”
“Please, I’ll do whatever you want….”
What could he possibly ask of me that would keep me out of Hell for the rest of my natural life?
The Devil smiled again. He knew I would do anything to avoid the unbearable sufferings of which I’d seen a glimpse for the next four decades.
“It seems you know a lot of people who are damned, Andrew. Most of your friends and family already belong to me. I need someone like you who can get them to Hell a little faster than natural causes can.”
“It’s a deal. Let’s draw up a new contract that guarantees me forty years of healthy life. Also, I don’t want to end up in jail for murder or be severely injured in any way. We can make a new contract. I stay healthy for taking lives for you.”
“Yes…we have a deal. You’ll find the contract in your room tomorrow at midnight. I will leave it up to you to decide who you will kill first.”
That was quite a proposition. Who will I kill first? Karl. Yes, it will have to be Karl. I sold my soul to win that contest and what did that lazy loser do? He reaped all the benefits without having to make any sacrifices. Karl is about to make the ultimate sacrifice. How will I do it? Should I buy a gun? No…..poison. I’ll put poison in Karl’s coffee. One thing is for sure and that is that Karl’s days are numbered. I don’t want to just rush off and kill him. After all, he is still my friend. I’ll give him another week to do the things he enjoys. Maybe I’ll even ask him to take in a movie with me like we used to do.
Dear Chris,
It’s been a true pleasure to have you in my classroom. The whole experience makes me happy you chose Donnis University, because you are one of my favorite students. I know that you are already anxious for my opinion about the two stories you sent to me. They were both very good. I especially enjoyed how you took your feelings regarding the film program and transformed them into good, dark fiction. I believe you have shown great talent and potential here. It’s obvious you are ready for the next step, which would be to write an even longer piece. Still, length isn’t everything; a true writer shows the world the truth as he or she sees it. That can be done in a sentence, or in an epic consisting of thousands of pages. I look forward to having you over this evening for what will surely be a life-altering meeting for both of us.
