Phoenix and the Dark Star

by Gerald Pruett

  Winona slightly hesitated before nodding and saying, “I should inform you that I didn’t crash your party alone. I came in with someone—a friend. He’s actually several years older than me, and he too has a made up character of him being your illegitimate offspring.”

  “Okay, well, I have nothing against your friend joining one of the teams, but the character of him being my illegitimate son will have to change,” Conner informed. “He’ll begin the game as a thrall, and I don’t know what character traits that you two had come up with for yourselves, but I’ll make authentic ones for you two.”

  “Okay,” Winona agreed.

  “Lotus, go with Sawni,” Conner ordered. “Help her find her friend and then all three of you return here.”

  Lotus nodded in agreement before gesturing and saying, “Let’s go, Sawni.”

  Once Winona and Lotus had walked away, Conner thought for a moment before stepping up to the nearest player.

  When the player saw who was stepping up to him, he kneeled down onto one knee before saying, “I’m just a simple thrall, my lord, and I humble myself to you.”

  “You’re now a messenger employed by me until the message has been delivered,” Conner told him. “So you now have immunity by me to cross over into an arrival clan’s territory without being attacked. Now stand up.”

  “Yes, Dorrautis,” he said while standing.

  “Go tell Drusilla, Gelmac and Windolo that I request their presence.”

  “Yes, Dorrautis,” he said before dashing away.

  Chapter Fourteen

  After a fairly short search, Winona spotted Willie across the room as Willie was slowly moving through the crowd.

  “He’s there,” Winona told Lotus while pointing towards him. “Wait here and I’ll go get him.”

  “Why do you want me to stay back?” Lotus asked suspiciously.

  “I didn’t think we both need to go over there, but fine; come along,” Winona told him, and then walked away before he could respond.

  Lotus followed Winona by a step.

  Winona knew that Lotus was there and once she was a few feet from Willie, she called, “Thorald!” When Willie turned, he immediately noticed the person next to Winona. “This is Lotus. He’s a member of Dorrautis’s clan.”

  Willie shot Winona a curious look as Lotus greeted him with, “Good evening.”

  “Good evening,” Willie echoed as he glanced his way.

  “Lotus knew right away that I had crashed the game and he took me to Dorrautis,” Winona continued. “Dorrautis is the mastermind behind this larp and he’s the top vampire around here. He’s also inviting us to join the game.”

  “So we’re not being asked to leave?” Willie questioned as he refolded the picture that he held while making new creases.

  “No,” Lotus was the one to say as Willie stuffed the folded picture into his front pocket. “But you will need to come with me if you would like to join this larp.”

  “Let’s play the game,” Winona strongly suggested.

  Willie gestured while telling Lotus, “Lead the way.”

  As Winona and Willie were following Lotus, Winona shared, “Dorrautis likes the plot of him having an illegitimate daughter, so I get to keep the character. He does want you to change characters though.”

  “That’s fine,” Willie replied.

  Lotus led Winona and Willie to Conner’s table. Conner, with a fresh glass of blood in his hand, stood up when he saw that Winona and Lotus were returning with Willie.

  When the three stepped up, Conner looked at Willie’s handwritten name badge before asking, “Is Thorald your character name or your real name?”

  “It’s my character name,” Willie answered in an indifferent tone. “Do you need to know my real name?”

  “Knowing your real name isn’t necessary,” Conner told him. “You two will need authentic game cards though.” Conner gestured towards the table before continuing, “You two sit, and I’ll go make them.”

  “Alright,” Winona and Willie said.

  “Lotus. Drusilla, Gelmac and Windolo will be here soon,” Conner said as Winona and Willie were sitting down. “Send them into the office when they get here.”

  “Will do,” Lotus replied.

  Conner turned and entered the office with his glass of blood. Once the door was shut, Willie asked Lotus, “So what is Dorrautis drinking? Beer with red dye?”

  Lotus stared skeptically at Willie before sharing, “Conner… Conner is his actual name. Anyway, Conner throws himself into the role of being a vampire. That’s actual blood that he’s drinking.”

  “Where does he get it?” Winona asked.

  “I had never asked, and actually I’m afraid to ask,” Lotus said.

  “So how long have you been… larping?” Winona asked.

  “For six years,” he answered. “Conner has only been doing it for the past four years. For the past three years he’s been hosting one.”

  “He must really enjoy dressing up as a vampire,” Winona said while acting oblivious to what he was.

  “If vampires exist, I would most likely mistake him for a real one,” Lotus shared.

  “He’s that much committed to it?” Winona questioned.

  “He is,” Lotus said.

  There was a brief moment of silence before Willie asked, “So are we supposed to put on make-up and costumes?”

  “You should,” Lotus began. “There are several people around here who can help you both with your make-up—if you need help that is. For your vampire costumes, you two can either come up with your own, or you two can rent from Drusilla for a nominal fee. Drusilla owns a costume rental store, and she always keeps a large supply of vampire costumes on hand around the time of the game.”

  “Okay,” Willie said.

  “So what’s your real name?” Winona questioned.

  “Here, in the game, is the one place that I can escape the humdrum existence of my life, so as far as I’m concern, until this game ends, Lotus is my name.”

  “Okay,” Winona said in an understanding tone as she looked behind Lotus and at the three (two men and a woman) who were stepping up.

  Lotus turned to see what had caught Winona’s attention.

  “Dorrautis summoned us,” one of the men said.

  “Yes, Gelmac,” Lotus agreed before gesturing towards the office door. “You, Windolo and Drusilla can enter.”

  Gelmac nodded before he, Windolo and Drusilla continued to the office door. Gelmac was the one to open it. He then gestured for the others to enter before him. When Gelmac entered, he closed the door behind him.

  Winona, Willie and Lotus talked casually for the ten minutes that it took for the office door to reopen. Winona, Willie and Lotus turned and watched as Conner, Drusilla, Gelmac and Windolo left the office in a single file.

  Drusilla gestured for them to rise while saying, “Sawni. Thorald. Stand up.”

  “Okay” and “Alright” were what Winona and Willie said while standing.

  “I own a costume store,” Drusilla told them. “Sawni, the adult female vampire costumes that I have left are for women considerably shorter than you, but I think that I can piece together a costume for you that will fit.”

  “I’m not picky about that,” Winona assured Drusilla.

  “Good,” Drusilla said.

  “Drusilla, Gelmac and Windolo are your twos clan members,” Conner told Winona and Willie. “Gelmac is the leader. Below him it’s Windolo and then Drusilla. I’ll inform the leaders of the other twenty-four groups of the change.” He then held out the game cards for Winona and Willie to take. “Anyway, here are your cards.”

  “Okay,” Winona said as she and Willie took their cards.

  “This game is expected to run for five to ten days,” Gelmac began. “And presumingly, you two have normal lives. I don’t want to interfere with your work lives, but until this game ends I would like for you two to put all of your free time into the game. So what time during the day or night are you two
available to play the game?”

  “I’m between jobs,” Winona lied. “So I’m available when you need me.”

  “I work freelance, so my hours are when I choose them to be,” Willie added. “So I can work around when you need me.”

  “Okay,” Gelmac said. “You two can’t start though until you two get into character. So you two can start tomorrow—after you get your costumes from Drusilla.”

  “I open my shop at 10:00 A.M., and I close at 6:00 P.M.,” Drusilla informed. “You two can come in tomorrow any time during those hours.”

  “We’ll be there at ten,” Willie replied.

  “Okay,” Drusilla said with a nod.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow,” Conner told Winona and Willie.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow,” Winona and Willie echoed before the two turned and walked away.

  Winona and Willie didn’t talk as they made their way to the exit.

  When they reached the exit, the doorman asked, “Did you find Casper Meyer’s grandson?”

  “We did,” Willie said.

  “We also met Dorrautis,” Winona added. “He knows about my friend and me, and our made up characters.”

  “Since he didn’t summon me to escort you two out, he wasn’t too upset,” the doorman assumed.

  “Not at all,” Winona said. “In fact, he liked the illegitimate daughter idea. So he invited Willie and me to join.”

  “Really,” the doorman uttered surprisingly.

  “Really,” Winona assured him. “I wasn’t sure if implicating you would get you into trouble or not, so I didn’t mention to him that you were the one who had invented the character or that you were the one who had helped us to get in.”

  “That’s fine,” the doorman assured Winona. “I don’t need credit for the character.”

  “Okay, well, you will see us tomorrow,” Winona told him. “Bye.”

  “Bye,” the doorman echoed followed by Willie.

  Winona and Willie continued towards the car, and after getting out of earshot of everyone, Willie said. “Going after Conner may have to wait until after the game.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Winona said. “Perhaps we can get lucky though and find an opportunity during the game. In any case, let’s find out how difficult the other two vampires will be at stopping them.”

  “You should check in with your dad once we get to the car,” Willie suggested.

  Winona went to pull out her phone from her purse before saying, “I’ll do it now.”

  Shayne picked up on the second ring while answering with, “Winnie?”

  “Yeah, it’s me,” Winona said.

  “Okay, well, the two vampires are no longer at the hotel,” Shayne informed. “The best that I can determine—from looking at this mirror—they are in a park not far from the hotel. I took a photo of where they are, and I Emailed that photo to Willie. Anyway, the third vampire is at the same location as he was earlier.”

  “Yeah, we’re leaving the location of the lone vampire now, Dad,” Winona informed.

  “You changed your mind?” Shayne asked in a slightly hopeful tone.

  “The vampire—believe it or not—is hosting a vampire live action role-playing game, so there are too many witnesses around to do anything,” Winona informed. “However, Willie and I had managed to get an invite to the game.”

  “You’re going to larp?” Shayne amusingly asked.

  “You know about larping?” Winona quickly asked.

  “I had arrested a few eighteen… nineteen-year-old kids for manslaughter a couple of years ago during one of their games,” Shayne shared.

  “Okay, well, thanks for the update, Dad, and I’ll call you later,” Winona began. “Bye.”

  After Winona had ended her call, Willie asked, “What’s changed?”

  “The two vampires had left the hotel,” Winona informed as she was putting her phone into her purse. “My dad believes that they’re in a park near the hotel.”

  “The vampires are strolling for their next victims,” Willie assumed.

  “And we need to get there before they can find one,” Winona added as they were approaching the car.

  “I agree,” Willie said before they went to their respective car doors.

  Willie drove to the park and parked his car on one of the narrow roads within the park. Once out of the car, Winona and Willie chose a direction and started walking.

  “How big is this park?” Winona asked after getting a few feet away from the car.

  Before Willie could answer, a woman’s scream for help was heard deep within the park.

  “Big,” Willie said before taking off running towards the scream. “Come on!” Winona took off running, and within no time, Winona took the lead. As Winona was widening her distance from Willie, Willie uttered, “Hey, don’t get too far ahead!”

  The woman’s scream was suddenly silenced, and within seconds after that, Winona came upon the two vampires while feeding on the lifeless woman.

  “Oh lookie here,” the male vampire said while standing upright. The female vampire—while appearing more savage-like—continued to feed. “The second course has arrived.” He then caught sight of Willie coming up behind her, and then stopping at her side. “And the third. We’re dining in luxury tonight.”

  “I’m really going to enjoy this,” Winona uttered as she reached into her purse.

  “What’s in the bag, little girl?” the vampire smugly questioned as he ghosted closer. “A gun?”

  “Not a gun,” Winona said while pulling out one of the crystal balls and glancing at the symbol that was on it long enough to know which command word to use. “You two blood drinkers have reached the end.”

  “Is that a crystal ball?” the vampire asked with a laugh.

  “It is,” Winona said as she reared back to throw underhand, as if she was getting ready to pitch a large softball.

  “Tell me my future, little girl,” he mockingly requested.

  Winona ignored him, and as she swung her arm forward, she said loudly the Seminole word equivalent to the word ‘midnight’.

  The crystal ball glowed yellowish white once the word was said, and immediately following, both vampires fell to the ground, paralyzed. However, before the male vampire could fall completely, the crystal ball had hit him with a glancing blow while causing it to be deflected upward slightly, and then landing on the ground between the two vampires.

  “It worked,” Winona said in a surprised tone.

  “You had your doubts?” Willie quickly questioned in a worried tone.

  “I’d never done this spell before today,” Winona explained. “So I was hoping—praying actually—that I had beginner’s luck, and that I could make this spell work on my first try.” She gestured towards the crystal ball as she continued with. “Well, in this case, my third try, since the crystal ball that I grabbed was the third one that I spelled.”

  “You hide your doubts well,” Willie said. Winona grinned. “And I hope your beginner’s luck holds up with those wooden stakes.”

  “Speaking of those wooden stakes,” Winona said as she went into her purse for a wooden stake and the mallet. “I should stake them before the spell wears off.”

  After Winona pulled out the items, she turned towards the dead woman—who the female vampire was feeding on—and became motionless as she stared mournfully at her.

  Willie saw Winona’s reaction before saying, “It was unfortunate—tragic, in fact—that we didn’t get here in time to save her. We do have the satisfaction of knowing that there will no longer be any victims because of these two.”

  “Do we call the police… or what should we do for her?” Winona asked while staring at the body.

  “Let’s worry about that after you had driven stakes through the vampires’ hearts,” Willie suggested.

  “Right,” Winona said while turning towards the male vampire.

  With the stake in her left hand and the mallet in her right, Winona stepped up to the male
vampire. The vampire had fallen onto his side, and after Winona had pushed him onto his back with her foot, she squatted down.

  The vampire could only move his eyes, and he watched worriedly as Winona placed the point of the stake at his chest above the heart. He then watched the mallet as Winona raised it.

  “You have no future, blood drinker,” Winona said as she suspended the mallet above her head. “As you will be dead after tonight.”

  Then with as much strength that she could gather, Winona swung downward while striking the stake square on its head.

  The sound of a hard shell cracking was heard. Winona had to hit the stake a second time before it could be driven into the vampire’s heart. The vampire flinched, and then—as if going through withdrawals—began to mildly shake.

  Winona stood upright before saying, “One down.” She then turned towards the female vampire. Her attention then wandered to the victim again.

  “Winnie!” Willie uttered to grab her attention.

  “I know,” Winona said before breaking her stare and walking towards the female vampire. “My dad, my oldest brother, my uncle and one of my cousins are cops. I know that they get to deal with scenes like this from time to time, but I never imagine that I would, and I don’t like it.”

  Winona stepped up to the female vampire and flipped her over onto her back. Winona saw the pleading for mercy in the vampire’s eyes as Winona placed the point of the stake at the chest above the heart. The female vampire closed her eyes as Winona raised the mallet.

  Again with as much strength that she could gather, Winona swung downward while striking the stake square on its head.

  As with the male vampire, the sound of a hard shell cracking was heard. Also like with the male vampire, Winona had to hit the stake another time before it could be driven into the vampire’s heart. The vampire flinched, and then began to mildly shake.

  Winona stood upright before looking towards the victim again. Willie stepped up to the crystal ball and bent down to pick it up. Winona turned towards Willie as Willie stood upright.

  “Should we call the cops now?” Winona questioned as Willie was stepping up to her.

  Willie held out the crystal ball for her to take while saying, “We need to move these vampires first.”