The Nosferatu Chronicles: Origins

by Susan Hamilton

“And what of the three vampires?” asked Chaluxi.

  “Tell me everything about them,” said Kevak. “I’ll search for them while you recover.”

  Chaluxi began with how the Vambir first encountered Emanui, Tariq, and Jasper in the barn as they were seeking shelter from the Strigoi and finished with the details of how he helped them escape from the monastery shortly before he left the Vambir vulnerable to Mehmed’s attack.

  “What now, Navigator?” asked Chaluxi. “Am I to set out the same as you did long ago with only minutes to spare until sunrise?”

  “No, old friend,” said Kevak as he stunned him with the lasgun.

  *******

  J’Vor could not believe his eyes when he saw the second being Kevak carried into the cave. After Chaluxi had been placed on Kevak’s sleep mat, J’Vor touched his shaved head and saw the pointed ears.

  “Is he a Vambir, Father?” he asked.

  “He once was,” explained Kevak. “He shaved his head and mutilated his ears in a desperate attempt to regain what he had lost.”

  “What caused him to change?” asked J’Vor.

  “He did not have the hemoplant to sustain him, and so he was forced to partake of human food,” answered Kevak, purposely not going into detail.

  “Are the human and the Vambir going to stay with us?” asked J’Vor.

  “No, my son,” answered Kevak. “The human is to be returned to his kind, while the Vambir is sick and must recover in seclusion. If his treatment is successful, he will rejoin us. How is our patient in the pod?”

  “This one level is high, Father,” said J’Vor, pointing to a pod control.

  Kevak checked the reading. “Nothing serious.”

  He riffled through one of the trunks until he found a bottle of wine.

  “I always knew this would come in handy,” he said to J’Vor, smiling. “How much longer till daylight?”

  “One hour and forty one minutes,” he said, reading one of the pod’s dials.

  “More than enough time to take the human back to his flock,” said Kevak. “When I return, we will pack for a great adventure.”

  *******

  The next morning, the villagers of Bazna laughed hysterically at the sight of the shepherd Nicolae stumbling down the center of town with his scattered sheep lagging behind. Reeking of wine, no one believed him when he insisted that Nosferatu had attacked him during the night.

  *******

  Two nights later, Kevak set out with Chaluxi draped over his shoulders. When he decided he was a safe distance from the cave, he revived him with an adrenaline injection and watched as he groggily got to his feet.

  “Where am I?” asked Chaluxi.

  “We are on the western outskirts of Bazna,” answered Kevak. “You have been in stasis for two nights. During that time, hemo-nectar has been introduced into your system. How do you feel?”

  “Different,” said Chaluxi. “Better.”

  “Here is a three-month supply of rations and enough seeds to grow a crop that will sustain you,” said Kevak. “I have recharged your palmcom and bio-scanner. Return here in six months. That should be plenty of time for you to have recovered and for me to have returned with the vampires.”

  “How will I find your cave?” asked Chaluxi.

  “Once your system is free of blood toxins, the bio-scanner will lead you to it. Wait for me there,” said Kevak.

  Chaluxi did not ask Kevak what to do if he never returned from the Carpathians. It would mean he had been killed by either the Vambir or humans, and Chaluxi would live out the rest of his days in isolation; a dull existence, but definitely preferable to what he had experienced so far on Earth.

  “Farewell, Navigator Kevak,” said Chaluxi, giving the Vambir salute. “When we meet again, I trust it will be under happier circumstances, and you will tell me the story of how you came to wear that trinket round your neck.”

  Kevak touched the crucifix. “It is so much more than a mere trinket, Chaluxi. Through the Word of Iam, I have found peace. If you wish to become better acquainted with Him upon your return, I can provide you with His book.”

  “And transform me, as the Vambir have done with humans?” joked Chaluxi.

  “No, Helmsman,” answered Kevak solemnly. “I will happily share my story with you, but accepting Him is your choice alone to make.”

  “I have done terrible things, Navigator,” Chaluxi said, “and doubt your Iam would be interested in a foul creature like me.”

  “You need only a genuine desire for forgiveness, and it will be granted,” replied Kevak. “May Iam be with you while you recover, my dear friend.”

  He watched as Chaluxi scampered off into the night and did not return to J’Vor until the scanner confirmed he was out of range.

  INFERNO

  Transylvanian Countryside

  “I know you can hear me, She-Devil!” taunted Mehmed. “This stalemate will soon be at an end! Satan has abandoned you!”

  As Mazja peered through the gaps between the boulders that the Vambir had placed at the mouth of the cave, she recalled the events that had brought them to their present situation.

  They had been taken completely by surprise at the monastery. Inexplicably, the vampire look-outs had not detected Mehmed’s troops, and the alarm was only raised well after his soldiers were inside. When Mazja had looked out the window of the banquet hall to get an idea of troop numbers, she had watched helplessly as a sea of soldiers poured through the entrance gate. The pits that would have instantly killed nearly a quarter of them had been exposed.

  Not having time to speculate on the identity of the saboteur, she led an attack on the soldiers as they ascended the bottleneck of the enclosed staircase. Mehmed’s superior numbers meant nothing, since no more than four could fit side-by-side. Those instantly killed fell into a crumpled heap and formed a wall of dead weight preventing those behind from advancing. For several hours, the Vambir who had been in the banquet hall held their ground on the staircase, while the other Vambir and vampires scattered throughout the monastery were easily slaughtered.

  Suddenly, the soldiers were given the order to withdraw. Suspecting they were making preparations for a fire-bomb, Mazja had raced back to the banquet hall window, and her fears were confirmed when she saw them hauling in large vats of oil.

  “They’re going to burn us out!” she yelled to the others. “We must jump from the rear walls while it is still dark!”

  “We can’t survive the fall!” one of the vampires screamed, but none of the Vambir cared about what would happen to them.

  As they reached the rear walls, the Vambir had seen the tied ropes left behind by Emanui, Tariq and Jasper. Enraged at the betrayal but relieved they would not have to make the long jump, the Vambir had quickly made their escape. The vampires had also made use of the ropes, but by the time they had inched their way to the bottom, the Vambir were long gone.

  During the desperate run for their lives, Mazja had briefly looked back to see the monastery engulfed in flames. She heard the screams of the vampires as Mehmed’s troops caught up to them and was glad that enough of them had chosen to use the ropes in order to provide a successful, albeit unwilling diversion.

  The fast pace of their run through the forest had put ample distance between them and the monastery, and when they emerged from the wilderness they found themselves on a path leading to a remote village.

  The path wound through cliffs containing numerous gaps that could each conceal a single Vambir, but Mazja disliked the thought of them being spread too thin with nowhere to retreat. She was just about to give the command to return to the forest to begin digging shelter pits when she saw it: a Christian shrine at the mouth of a cave.

  “It’s perfect,” she said. “Look at how the Primitives have deliberately placed boulders to prevent anyone from venturing inside. It must be a sacred place to them.”

  She ordered the Vambir to move one of the boulders aside so they could enter.

  “We’ll be sealed in if
discovered!” Klopok objected.

  “We’re going to seal ourselves in,” she countered. “Move that boulder back to where it was as soon as we are all inside. We’ve covered a great distance, and even if Mehmed’s scouts were lucky enough to be heading directly for us, they won’t arrive for at least another ten hours.”

  “But what if they try to burn us out with oil again?” Klopok whined.

  “Fool, what would scouts be doing with heavy oil vats?” Mazja scoffed. “Assuming they’re lucky enough to find us, one of them would have to ride back to Mehmed and tell him where we are, and it would be well after dark before any troops arrived in sufficient numbers. We’ll be long gone by then.”

  For the first hours of daylight, everything had proceeded as Mazja predicted, but then the Vambir detected the smell of an approaching human on horseback. Silently retreating to the back of the cave, they had remained perfectly still, but the horse sensed their presence and began to buck. The rider dismounted and attempted to calm the terrified animal, but it only became further agitated and bolted.

  Unfortunately for the Vambir, the rider was not a soldier but a local who had lived in the region all of his life and knew every detail of his surroundings. Looking at the shrine, he had immediately noticed that the boulder the Vambir moved was out of place by a few inches. The gap between the boulders had always lined up with the shrine’s crucifix, and now it did not.

  The local walked tentatively to the gap and peered through. As soon as Mazja saw the look of alarm on the man’s face, she knew they had been discovered. Shouting for the Vambir to pull the local inside, Klopok managed to grab him by the throat, but in doing so he exposed his hand to the daylight. Severely burned, Klopok could not maintain his hold, and the man was able to escape and raise the alarm.

  Within a short time, villagers with pitchforks and axes crowded outside the shrine, while others set out on horseback to notify Mehmed’s troops of what they had discovered.

  When Mehmed’s soldiers arrived, it was early afternoon, and Mazja’s timeline of her worst-case scenario had been fatally altered.

  The villagers were ordered to round up all available firewood, and the soldiers used the pitchforks to displace the smaller rocks until only the large boulders remained. The large gaps now provided enough space for arrows to be shot through, and many of the Vambir had been struck. Once the villagers returned with firewood, they piled it in a great heap at the cave entrance. With more than three hours remaining till sunset, additional troops arrived with carts of oil, accompanied by Mehmed himself, who took delight in shouting out taunts to Mazja.

  *******

  Inside the cave, she felt a drop of water fall heavily on her forehead.

  “Damn this planet,” she muttered. “Lasguns could have easily taken care of those Primitives outside.”

  Nursing his burned hand, Klopok began to laugh.

  “What do you find so amusing?” Mazja snapped.

  “Every time I move to a new spot, water falls on me,” he said, “but it’s not nearly enough to put out the fire they will soon light.”

  Mazja turned her attention to the damp cave walls. Looking up, she could see where several droplets of water were leaking through. She walked to the front of the cave and picked up a large rock that had been pushed through by the soldiers.

  “Lift me up,” she ordered, standing directly beneath the largest leak.

  Two Vambir cupped their hands and hoisted her up by her feet. She struck the cave ceiling repeatedly with the rock, and after several minutes she managed to dislodge a large piece. The water now began to flow out, and the other Vambir picked up rocks and did the same.

  “Look!” cried Klopok, peering outside. “They’ve lit the fire!”

  The Vambir worked furiously at their desperate task. The fire was not yet a threat because the smoke was rising in the outside air, but once the entire pile was ablaze, the soldiers began to push it through the gaps between the boulders. As it spilled into the cave, acrid smoke quickly spread throughout.

  Mazja had made an opening large enough for her to fit through. Once she climbed inside, she removed her outer robe and used it as a rope to pull up Klopok and two other Vambir, Rujah and Zof. She then placed her robe over the hole to and secured it in place with rocks to prevent the smoke from entering.

  “There is room for two more, Commander,” said Rujah.

  “If the hole is not plugged now, we will suffocate,” said Mazja coldly. “The others will have to make their own openings.”

  Above her head was a mixture of rock and soil.

  “Use your hands to dig an air pocket to the surface,” she ordered the others.

  “It is still daylight, Commander,” protested Klopok.

  Cursing herself for rescuing such an idiot, Mazja responded harshly. “Then don’t dig straight up! Go in at an angle so the rays will not reach us. At worst, your fingertips will get scorched!”

  Outside, ten soldiers lifted a heavy log and used it as a battering ram to part the boulders. Villagers continued to push the blazing fire farther into the cave and threw fresh, oil-soaked wood on top of it.

  As Klopok and the other Vambir clawed through the dirt, Mazja scooped up what fell and sprinkled it over the robe when she spotted thin curls of smoke wafting through.

  “I’ve gotten through!” yelled Zof as he examined his fingertips.

  “That’s enough,” ordered Mazja. “We only want the air to come through, not the sunlight. There’s nothing to do now but wait for darkness.”

  They sat in silence as the blood-curdling screams of the Vambir trapped in the cave rang in their ears. There was no way of knowing if some of them had managed to get through other openings. Mazja knew she would find out soon enough.

  *******

  One group of Vambir had, in fact, squeezed through an opening they had made. In their panic to escape the smoke, they had only partially sealed the opening behind them as they pushed forward, digging through the rocky soil with their hands to escape the choking haze that quickly enveloped them. Their desperate efforts to reach the fresh air outside were successful — too successful. As soon as they broke through to the surface, the instability their digging had created caused a large chunk of earth to dislodge. The rays of the sun illuminated their confined space, instantly vaporizing them.

  *******

  “I can’t breathe!” cried Klopok.

  When no one answered him, he turned to see the others in semi-stasis. Their heart rates and breathing had slowed to a level that protected them from the effects of the smoke creeping in.

  Klopok willed himself to calmness. Pulling his tunic over his face, he closed his eyes and cleared his mind. As his heart rate dropped, his breathing became less labored and his body’s need for oxygen decreased. He drifted into a dreamless sleep where time was suspended. Something squeezed his arm. A voice called his name from far away, then an instant later it was booming in his ear. It was Rujah.

  “Klopok! It is time to go!”

  He pulled his tunic down and opened his eyes, seeing a pitch-black sky dotted with stars. The three Vambir stood overhead, and he raised his arms to allow them to pull him out. Within a few hours they had made their way through the thick forest to a vantage point on higher ground. Looking back, they could see an orange speck flickering in the distance.

  “The cave is completely engulfed,” said Zof.

  “I can’t detect any other survivors, Commander,” said Rujah, sniffing the air.

  “Nor can I,” said Mazja. “We shall wait here for signs of survivors. Any approaching humans will be easily spotted from a long way. There are no nearby roads, and the terrain is too steep for horses. If the soldiers do not search for us tonight, it means they believe we all perished in the fire.”

  “How shall we shelter from the daylight, Commander?” asked Klopok.

  “The same as we did in the desperate days after we were locked out of the lifeboat,” she answered. “We dig a pit and cover ourselves wit
h foliage. If we are unable to detect any signs of our comrades by tomorrow night, they are to be assumed dead and we must move on.”

  “To where, Commander?” asked Zof.

  “Into the wilderness, away from all Primitives,” she said. “I made a copy of a map of a mountain range called the ‘Carpathians’ in Dracula’s tent long ago. The maps at the monastery indicated the Carpathians lie in the direction we have been traveling. Once there, we can easily find a cave, enter semi-stasis, and within a year everyone will believe that the Vambir were all destroyed tonight at the hands of Mehmed.”

  EXCURSION

  Outskirts of Bazna

  “Hover!” commanded Kevak.

  The pod silently levitated and followed Kevak and J’Vor as they made their way down the cliff onto the plain.

  “Please, Father,” begged J’Vor, “won’t you tell me where we’re going?”

  Kevak smiled. “A magical place called the Carpathian Mountains.”

  “Mountains?” asked J’Vor. “Isn’t our cave on top of a mountain?”

  Kevak laughed. “Compared to the plain, our cliff row certainly could be considered a mountain. But you will soon see that the Carpathians dwarf the cliff row. When we catch our first glimpse of them, it will seem as though they touch the sky.”

  “And that is where we will find our new friends, Emanui, Tariq and Jasper?” J’Vor asked.

  “Iam willing,” replied Kevak.

  Kevak’s calm demeanor masked his grave concerns for J’Vor’s safety. It was a great risk to venture out into the unknown, but it was even more dangerous for them to remain where they were. Chaluxi could return prematurely and be unable to resist the urge to feed if he encountered J’Vor.

  Kevak put the technological gear along with clothing, the telescope, the chessboard, and the Bible into the pod. Packing enough food for J’Vor and hemo-rations to last six months, he had fervently prayed to Iam that it would allow him enough time to locate the vampires.

  Knowing that their sheep and goats could not survive in their enclosures for the months they would be away, Kevak had set them free and secretly watched as befuddled shepherds accepted them into their respective flocks.