“Do you ever sleep?” Frank asked Vlad one morning.
“I have lived for centuries, my friend,” Vlad replied, “the blood of millions weighs too heavy on my shoulders for sleep.”
“How long has it been since vampires began to live in a civilized society?”
“Not long,” Vlad paused to stroke his moustache in thought. “Close to one hundred and fifty years now. All of the lords got together and decided that our way of living needed to be restructured. In order to keep a low profile, we realized we had to stop leaving blood drained bodies lying around.”
“So, before that you were…”
“I was insane with blood lust,” Vlad finished. “People change, though, even vampires.”
After the week was up, Frank decided it was time to say his goodbyes, Vlad walked with him to the courtyard.
“I’d like to thank you for letting Benny and Autumn rest here,” Frank said, “this is a beautiful area.”
“With the exception of the impaled bodies, right?” Vlad laughed.
“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I never unders-tood Jackson Pollok’s artwork either.”
“Well, you’re not alone there. It is an honor to have Benny and Autumn here. Before you go I want you to take this.” Vlad reached into his black robes and pulled Odin’s cane out. “Part of your child remains with me, I would like a part of mine to go with you.”
Frank stared down at the silver dragon that formed the handle, the morning sun gleamed in its eye. “Thank you,” he said, taking the cane in his hand, “I’ll take good care of it.”
“I know you will.”
“And thank you for all of your hospitality.”
“Of course. Tell me, Frank, where will you go from here.”
Frank thought on this a moment and said; “I’m going to find my other son, Jack.”
“Ah, yes, he has been turned. I will give you this warning; beware of the Wintermen.”
“The Wintermen?”
“They only surface in the winter months, when their powers are strongest. They prey on other vampires, especially those who aren’t tied to a clan, like your son. In a little more than three weeks time he will be completely turned, it would be wise to find him before winter. My information points back toward Indiana.”
“I’ll keep all that in mind.”
“What will you do once you find him?”
“I’m going to cure him.”
Vlad laughed, “There is no cure for vampirism.”
“There is one,” Frank said seriously, “I’m going to kill your vampire god, Deppleo.”
Surprise is an emotion Vlad had not felt in a very long time, this statement set him overflowing with it. “Killing him may be impossible, finding him may be just as hard.”
“I have to try. I suppose that makes us enemies.”
“On the contrary, I would welcome a mortal death, you have my full support. Just remember, though you will always be a friend to me, if Deppleo commands it, we may face each other eventually.”
“Hopefully, it won’t come to that. Goodbye, Vlad, and thanks again.”
Vlad watched as Frank walked back toward the woods and into his next adventure.
He then said with a whisper; “Good luck.”
12. Home
Frank had little trouble finding his way back down the mountain side, although he did find himself walking in circles once. He’d always been a nature lover and found the fresh air to be a great healing tool for his grief.
He found the hearse on the old dirt road where they had left it, with no apparent signs of being tampered with be-sides a couple of hundred leaves blanketing the roof and hood. Frank climbed behind the steering wheel and keyed the ignition. The old 8 cylinder engine roared to life and he threw the gear stick into drive.
Before he pulled away, he gave one last look up the tree covered side of the mountain, hoping he’d catch one last glimpse of Benny and Autumn.
He found no one.
To say the trip back to Indiana was uneventful would be an understatement; it was downright boring, a sharp contrast to the trip up. There wasn’t a vampire, werewolf, witch or living tree to be seen the entire time.
Though he had not stayed at the house much since Abby had died, he certainly felt overjoyed to see it as he pulled into the driveway. As he brought the old death cab to a stop and shifted into park he caught movement in his rearview mirror. An unmarked police car had followed him up the drive.
He got out of the car and looked back to see a pretty, middle aged Hispanic woman climbing out of the vehicle be-hind him.
“Good morning, Mr. Writeman,” The woman said cheerfully, “and welcome home. My name is Detective Gloria Perez and I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.”
Frank gave her a crooked smile and said, “Your par-ents named you detective? Good thing you became a cop, huh?”
Gloria let out a short giggle and knew she had given up the bad cop façade she was trying to wear. “That was a good one, you’re very funny. May I come in?”
“Of course,” Frank led the way up to the front door and produced a key chain from his pants pocket. Once inside, he turned to his guest and asked; “May I take your coat?”
“No, I won’t be staying long.”
“That’s a shame.”
The detective felt her cheeks flush and mentally scolded herself for acting like a school girl. She cleared her throat and tried to emit a tougher exterior. “Mr. Writeman, I worked a very interesting crime scene recently at your bank building. Do you know what I’m referring to?”
“I have an idea.”
“My partner and I found some very strange things in your office. Then, we found even more of these strange things in your son, Jack’s house, at the graveyard where your daugh-ter-in-law, Autumn, was buried, and we heard about the piles of bodies that were left strewn across a cornfield in Nebraska.”
“Nothing out of Gary?” Frank asked playfully.
“Why? What happened in Gary?”
“Nothing worth mentioning.”
Gloria stared at Frank for a long moment as if trying to word her next set of statements very carefully.
“Mr. Wr-”
“Please, call me Frank”
“Frank, before I could get very deep into my investi-gation, the F.B.I. swooped in and took over. Now, the feds are gone, the bodies are gone and everything’s been cleaned up as if it never happened.”
“Wow, that’s convenient for me.”
“Very. Furthermore, my partner, my forensics team, and every other cop who viewed the scene are acting like they were never there and didn’t see anything.”
“Maybe they’re the smart ones,” Frank said with sudden seriousness.
“I want in on this; I want to know what’s going on.”
Frank only stared at her with a doubtful look on his face.
“Where are your boys, Frank?”
The Old Man looked down at the floor, suddenly saddened by where the conversation had turned.
“Benny is dead,” he stated plainly.
“I’m sorry, Frank. What about Jack?”
“I have no idea where he is, but he’s in trouble and I need to find him before others do.”
“What others?”
Frank didn’t answer.
“Look, I’m a detective; I could be helpful in finding him.”
The Old Man new she was right, and though he wasn’t comfortable with putting yet another life in danger, finding Jack was more important than anything.
“I’m very tired from my trip,” he finally said.
Gloria let out a sigh of defeat.
“I want to get some rest,” Frank continued, “but if you have dinner with me tonight, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
Gloria smiled, “Are you asking me to go out on a date?”
“Well,” Frank said with a sudden nervousness, “yeah, if that’s okay.”
Again, the detective felt her cheeks blush,
“I suppose that would be alright. I can meet you back here at around 6:00, would that be ok?”
Frank grinned like a boy in a candy shop, “6:00 is good.”
He walked the detective to the door and as she walked out onto the porch, she turned and asked: “Where not going to take the hearse, are we?”
“It would probably be better if you drive.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later.”
He watched her leave and felt relieved that she didn’t look in the back of the hearse. The illegal weapons he’d hauled across the country and back would have landed him in prison for a nice, long stint.
Frank didn’t lie to her, he was exhausted and he fully intended on getting some rest, but there was something else he had to take care of first.
The stairs gave their old familiar creaks as he walked up to the second floor, a sound he found comforting after being away so long. As he entered the den he thought of the last time he was there and echoes of his conversation with Benny bounced through his head. He was trying to help his son through the grief of losing his wife.
Now Benny was gone too.
The Old Man pushed this thought to the back of his mind. He had spent enough time mourning his youngest boy, he still had a son out there somewhere that needed his help and he knew if he focused on that his sorrow would soon be forgotten, if only for a little while.
Frank picked the cordless phone out of its charger and dialed a number that very few people in the world knew. The phone rang three times before a nasally voice answered on the other end.
“Yellow?”
“James, it’s Frank.”
“Oh, hey buddy, are you back in town?”
“Yeah, and I’m going to need your help with some-thing. How do you feel about relocating?”
“Where to?”
“My place, tonight. I want to make this a base of operations of sorts.”
“Base of operations? Are we going to war?”
“Eventually, but first we have to find Jack. I can’t really say much over the phone, just come over tonight around 7:00 and get set up, I’ll explain everything later.”
“What are you going to do?”
“First I’m going to take a nap, and then I’m going on a hot date.”
“You got a date? You’ve been in town for like three minutes. I haven’t had one for three years.”
Frank smiled, “The first step is to leave the house, James. Look, I’m going to go, but I’ll see you tonight.”
“Alright, see ya.”
The Old Man hung up the phone and collapsed on the nearby couch. He eventually fell into an uneasy sleep filled with dreams of things to come.
The approaching snow, his changing son and the mysterious vampires known only as; The Wintermen.
The End.
Avenging Autumn: Seasons Change Book 1 of 4 Page 14
