“Alex,” Chris said, “would you like to rest for a while?”
“No, no, there is more to tell.”
“More?”
“Yes.” Alex nodded
“Are you sure you want to go on?” Chris looked skeptical. “We can continue this later. You don’t look like you feel well.”
Alex took Christopher’s hand. “I’ll be fine, just let me finish what I started.”
Chris nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want,” Alex assured him.
19
Before Stewart even opened his eyes, he knew that he had not been returned home. The sterile hospital smell was stronger than it had been in the last room they had him in.
He didn’t want to open his eyes; in fact, he felt like he couldn’t. Weakness and exhaustion had crept in and numbed his body.
“Please, God,” he whispered, “let me get out of this alive.”
A raspy male voice beside him announced, “There is no god.”
Stewart’s eyes popped open despite the fact that they had felt glued shut. Blinding light penetrated his eyes and he quickly shut them again. Then, gradually, he opened them again and took in his surroundings.
The ceiling was made of a damp looking gray stone. He turned his head to the left, where the voice had come from, and saw a white curtain. An identical curtain occupied his right side.
“If there was a god, then none of us would be here in the first place,” the voice continued.
“What do you mean?” Stewart asked him.
“It doesn’t matter. We will all be dead soon anyway.”
“What are you talking about?” Stewart tried to reach out and open the curtain but realized he couldn’t. His arms were handcuffed to the metal rails of the hospital type bed which he lay on.
As he scanned his arm slowly from hand to elbow, he realized that in addition to the severe cuts on his wrists there was a huge hole in the crook of his arm.
“What the…”
Stewart knew something strange was happening. Why hadn’t they killed him? The man had said there were more people in there. What the hell was going on?
It was time to seriously try to get out of there. Stewart shut his eyelids to close out the light and concentrate as hard as he could to get himself free.
Everlasting minutes crawled by as he chanted different spells which he knew. Nothing worked. He fell back onto his pillow and let out a long, loud sigh. He hadn’t realized that he had become so tense while trying to work his magic.
“So, you actually think we would keep you here without making sure your powers were bound.” Malcolm’s voice boomed in the quiet of the room.
Again, Stewart’s eyes flew open. That time, instead of a stone ceiling, he was staring at Malcolm’s smug face.
“You got someone to put a binding spell on me?”
“Of course I did, I’m not stupid enough to let you escape after I went through all the trouble of capturing you.”
Even strapped to a bed and completely vulnerable, Stewart remained defiant. “I will find a way out of here!”
Malcolm stared down at him pitifully. “No, Stewart, you will never leave here. Since you have decided not to help us, we have other temporary uses for you.” He flicked his eyes toward the hole in Stewart’s arm.
“What is going on?” Stewart demanded.
Malcolm removed a key from within his cape and proceeded to unlock Stewart’s cuffs. “Come, let me show you.”
Surprised Malcolm had unlocked him, he tried to sit up but his spinning head forced him to lie back down.
“Yes, I know you are weak and tired. A little movement will help you to feel better. Come on.”
While he was speaking, Malcolm also removed the straps which bound Stewart’s feet. Again, Stewart tried to sit up. He swung his jeans clad legs over the side of the bed. When his bare feet hit the stone floor, it sent chills throughout his body. Movement was slow and painful at first but curiosity kept him moving. He desperately wanted to know what Malcolm was up to.
The moment they set foot out of his curtain cubical, Stewart saw a stone isle. On each side of the isle, the walls were lined with curtains as far as he could see.
Malcolm began to move forward. “You see, Stewart, my vampires grow hungrier. With each new generation turned, their hunger becomes more insatiable. As much as I don’t care, we simply can’t have millions of dead lying in the streets.”
While Stewart silently walked beside Malcolm, he stared at the various kinds of people who lay in the beds. They ranged from young children to very old men. Stewart kept his face stern to keep from crying.
It was horrible to see them lying there like zombies. The worst part was the children, the children who had most likely stopped calling out for their mothers long ago. Each and every one of them had pale, sunken faces which resembled the faces of children you see on commercials for starving children.
Malcolm continued his explanation. “So, we needed to find a way to supplement this hunger without causing a plague. I think you know that it is possible for a person to live for a long time with blood being taken periodically from their body. As long as they are nourished correctly, we are able to keep our own fed, with fewer dead mortals.”
Stewart could not believe what he was hearing. “So, you have all of these people here for food?”
“Yes, Stewart, we had to find a way.” They paused at the end of the isle way of people and Malcolm produced yet another key which he used to unlock the door. “In there are only a few of the people we chose for this project.”
They moved down a very narrow and dark stone stairway. At the bottom of it, a gigantic room loomed before them. Stewart looked around and saw about fifty people.
Stewart was surprised to see that there were couches and chairs set up all over the place, as well as a few television sets. The room was completely silent and all of them merely glanced up when they saw Malcolm enter the room.
“These ones just spent a lot of time giving blood. After they stay here for a while, they will go into another area where they all live. It’s actually quite comfortable for them.”
Stewart stood in a state of shock.
“Why would you care about their comfort?” he sneered.
“Well, we want them to reproduce. They need to feel happy enough to want to.”
Stewart felt his jaw drop. “You’re insane! You are running a freaking people farm!”
Smiling, Malcolm nodded his head in acknowledgment.
Anger welled up inside Stewart. “These people aren’t cows. You can’t do this!”
“But you see, Stewart, they are cows to us. Humans eat cows. Vampires eat people. It is as simple as that. And we can do this…because we have.”
Stewart kept his mouth shut. It was bad. He knew that Malcolm intended to keep him there until he died. He didn’t want to become a zombie like all of the people he had seen.
“Come, Stewart, shall we go see your new living quarters?”
Stewart knew that without his magic there was no chance of escape, but he was still not one to go willingly.
“Noooo!” he shouted. He turned around and darted for the doorway through which they had come. All of the people roaming around looked up, startled at his screams. Stewart bolted up the stairway.
“Stewart, you know as well as I do that you will never get out of here.” Malcolm appeared at the top of the stairway and blocked Stewart’s attempt to escape. “It’s truly a shame you refuse to cooperate. Now we have to restrain you again.”
He sighed as he grabbed a fistful of Stewart’s hair and dragged him through the door at the top of the stairs.
“No, no, no!” Stewart kicked his legs and flailed his arms around in a poor attempt to free himself. Malcolm dragged him down the stone hallway and out through another door. Soon, they were in the same room where he had first been tortured.
Malcolm threw Stewart to the ground and turned to one of the guards.
> “Take care of him,” he ordered with a swift wave of his hand. Then, he swung his cape over his shoulder and stalked back to the stairs without a single glance back at Stewart.
Stewart lay at the guard’s feet, panting, wishing his magic would work. He was simply human there. The vampires would always win against mere mortals such as himself. Hopefully, the council would come for him, but he sincerely doubted they would.
20
Alex wanted to press on with the story of his past. He figured he had told Chris that much, why not tell him all of it. So he began exactly where he left off.
***
“I kept drinking simply because it was the only way I could maintain the numbness I so desired to feel. I took on various jobs to pay for my habit but the work I could find never lasted. I was usually let go within a week. It went on like that for months. I didn’t care, though; as long as I was numb, nothing mattered.
During those months, my sleep was plagued with nightmares. I would toss and turn and wake soaked in sweat. In those nightmares, I was stalked. I didn’t know by whom, or what, but something was always watching me.
Mostly, my days were spent hunting for meat to sell to the wealthy people. On one particular evening, I was out doing just that, and I found myself still in the woods when darkness fell.
The evening was crisp and my breath looked like smoke each time I exhaled. No new snow had fallen for at least a week but frozen snow still lingered, covering most of the forest floor. Given my recent nightmares, the last place I wanted to be was in the woods at night. So I began to make my way back to the village.
Soon, I noticed the woods were silent. No birds, no critters rustling in the bushes, nothing. An eerie silence fell over the forest. Like before I found the fire, I could feel that something wasn’t right.
As my feet crunched through the frozen snow, the feeling grew more intense. The feeling that someone was watching me became overpowering. I sped up my already hurried pace and tried to get back to the village as quickly as I could.
Then, from out of the darkness, a figure appeared in front of me. In my drunken stupor, I did not jump back. Also, when I think about it now, I think the fact that I had already subconsciously known something was going to happen made it easier to face when it actually happened.
The figure seemed to be only a shadow in a hooded cape.
I faced it, without fear.
The figure slowly pulled the hood off his head, revealing blond hair and blue eyes which were set against white skin so pale that it appeared to glow. I had never seen this man before.
‘I don’t have any money,’ I said sternly.
‘I don’t want your money,’ the figure replied in a quiet voice, barley above a whisper. ‘I have been watching you, Alexander, and I know how to heal your heart.’
I had no idea what he was talking about. And my heart was beyond healing. Still, I did not move. That figure was literally my living nightmare; he was the one who stalked me.
‘Alexander, you should be thankful I have chosen you. The life you live now is quite pathetic. I desire nothing more than to make it better for you.’
I wanted him to leave me alone so I told him, ‘There is nothing you can do to help me so why don’t you let me be on my way.’
Then, he laughed softly and took a step closer. I did not back away. When he stretched out his ghostly hand to touch me, I did take a step back. Evil radiated around him. I didn’t know what he wanted but if he had wanted to kill me, it seemed he would have already done it.
He took another step and grasped each side of my head in his hands.
“Let me go,’ I demanded. I sounded stern, but inside, I was trying desperately to remain calm.
‘Don’t struggle,’ he ordered.
I didn’t understand what he was talking about. His hands were not harsh; they held me gently. Then, he moved forward again till our eyes were level and I was staring into his watery blue eyes.
I tried to step backward, away from him and his grip which tightened on my head. Any calm left in me fled when I found I could not move. I began to writhe around, trying to get free, but it was no use.
He stood there silently, smiled and watched me while I fought with all my strength to get away. He was supernaturally strong. It seemed like he wasn’t even trying to hold me there.
He pulled my head toward him while I screamed. His hands pressed so tightly against my head that I feared he might crush it. But then, he tilted it to the side so my neck was exposed to the frigid air. The next thing I remember is how he curled back his lips and opened his mouth wide. I watched as his eyeteeth quickly transformed into fangs. He had fangs!
‘Demon!’ I screamed at him. In the short time it took for me to shout at him, he had moved down and punctured my neck. It felt…well, you know what that feels like. When I woke, I was in his lair.
I woke up as a vampire…the living dead. Despite my new strength and a driving hunger, I felt as if I had been cheated out of an afterlife with my family. I would never again see my wife or my daughter, who looked just like her mother with her red hair and black eyes.
I would never again see my sons, who were smaller versions of me.
How could I live with myself knowing I was evil, that I was a demon? I didn’t want to do the things a vampire did. But, the choice was not mine.
The figure’s name was Jacob. He taught me how to do the things I needed to do to live as a vampire, like how to feed and when to sleep. He took me on as his own…and I hated him for it.
I hated the way I had to take lives to live. For a long time I refused to do it, not believing I needed human blood to survive. I hated him most for taking me from a death which may have reunited me with my family.
Oh, how I hated him! But, he loved me. He loved my attitude, the way I would fight with him, the way I continued to be stubborn, the way I cursed him constantly for what he had done. There was nothing I could do to make him hate me back.
I also cursed God. I simply couldn’t understand how he could do that to me, how he could let it happen. I had once felt certain that, no matter how hard life became, we’d be ok as long as we had each other and him but then he had taken them and had left me alone.
Our nights were always spent hunting. Jacob liked to stalk his prey. He liked to give them the feeling they were being watched, that something would soon come for them. It was exactly what he had done to me.
I hated killing. Jacob ended up having to do it for me most of the time. No matter how evil I was, I still could not bring myself to enjoy it.
Most of the time, Jacob and I would be together, but sometimes, I needed to be alone. He didn’t like it when I insisted he leave me but he would always let me go. When I could finally get that precious time away, I would take to the forest where I could walk and be alone with the trees and animals.
One night, within the thickness of the trees, I saw a beautiful dark woman. Her long black hair cascaded down her back and she seemed to glow with energy. She stared directly at me while I stared at her. Her expression was of surprise, like she didn’t expect to see me or didn’t expect me to see her.
Was she a dream? She had to be, to be out in the forest in the middle of the night. Perhaps she was a nymph or some other legendary figure. Those thoughts passed through my mind briefly but the expression of surprise more than revealed her reality.
She turned away and seemed to disappear into the darkness. I ran after her.
‘Miss, miss,’ I called. ‘Wait, the forest is dangerous at night!’
But then, she was nowhere to be found. Even though I knew myself as a vampire, it still seemed odd to think of other vampires roaming about, waiting for a woman like her.
When I told Jacob about it, he went crazy. He told me to stay away from her if I saw her again. He told me not to speak to her. I asked him why and he vaguely described to me that she was an enemy of the vampires and she would try to destroy us.
Of course, I did not believe him. She had seeme
d afraid of me. Why would she look so surprised and run away if she wanted to destroy us? But, I did realize then that Jacob did know who she really was.
So, one night, I went into the woods alone, to the place where I had seen her. I stood there and called out to her. ‘Miss! Whoever you are. I know you’re here. Please show yourself.’
When she did not appear, I sat down in the snow with my back against a tree. I waited there for hours and hours. I don’t know why I waited or how I knew she would eventually show up, but she did.
My sensitive ears heard nothing and my powerful sense of smell didn’t detect anything, either. But, when I looked up from the snow, she was standing there just as I had seen her before.
‘Alexander, you must go soon, the sun will be rising.’ She motioned toward the sky.
‘Who are you?’ I demanded.
‘You know who I am, Alexander, you have always known me.’
‘No, I do not know you. Tell me who you are.’
She stretched her hand out toward me. ‘I am Danielle, your guardian angel.’
Appalled, I told her I did not believe her. But…deep inside me, I knew she was truly who she said. I hated her too. If she was supposed to be my protector, why would she let me get turned into a monster? She acted like I didn’t hate her, just like Jacob did, and told me to remember where I used to find comfort.
I did remember. I used to find comfort in the love of God. How could I do that when I was certainly bound for hell?
She ordered me to find that comfort again, and then she disappeared.
I decided not to tell Jacob of my encounter with her. He would only tell me more lies, and I didn’t want to hear them. Somehow, I knew she had not lied to me, that she really was my guardian angel.
You can feel it, the difference between something evil and something good, and I could feel that about her.
Danielle continued to appear to me. As time went by, her appearances became more frequent until, finally, I had to tell Jacob about her. I told him that I was going to leave him. Jacob pretended he understood, but I knew that, inside, he was boiling with rage. I left that very night, despite the bit of guilt I felt for abandoning him.
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