by Phil Wohl
Hartwell went unchecked for the first 18 years of his vampire existence, before he realized that he wasn’t alone. A chain of events were
triggered shortly after he fed off Lowery, went through his metamorphosis, and then awoke after Mrs. Wilcox’s rock went airborne and pounded against the door.
Every vampire has a cosmically-assigned hunter - who is a natural enemy - and a protector, who is a constant ally. It takes 18 years from birth for both individuals to attain full maturity and understanding, with most of
the growth occurring in the subconscious until then.
In his 18 years of ‘on the house,' wild exploration, Hartwell made his way across the country. Spending time in the state of Washington, Oregon, Vancouver, British Columbia, back through Southern California and Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, for only a brief time, because people appeared to be experienced with his kind, making his job more difficult.
Subsequent years were spent in the Midwest – perhaps Hartwell’s favorite place to dine – because the people were so hospitable and never seemed to fail to invite him in. Apparently, it was against their DNA to be unwelcoming. He experienced a similar dynamic with Canadians, who never seemed to grow tired of giving him their blood.
Hartwell was in Pennsylvania one night when he decided to go to a bar for a late-night drink. It was just after midnight and many of the patrons
had exceeded the legal blood-alcohol limit in the days when it was legal to drink and mount a horse. Although Hartwell never drank alcohol, he nonetheless did benefit from the spiked blood of victims in the form of a nice comfortable buzz.
Mr. Darkness had taken a few unsuspecting drunks for a leisurely stroll in the alley for a little puncture and drink, and was focusing on a third pigeon inside the bar when he was impeded by an unfamiliar face.
“You don’t want to do that,” the man-child said with confidence. Hartwell stepped back to get a good look at this baby-faced kid that
dared to challenge him.
“You should go home, junior, and help your mommy knit a quilt,” Hartwell replied with all of the cockiness of a predator in the prime of his death.
The young man was focused on the impending danger, not Hartwell’s pointed words, as he yelled, “Duck!”
Normally, Hartwell listened to no man, but his intense hearing was telling him that the directive was accurate.
Thaddeus Brewster stood across the room with a silver-tipped arrow cocked in his bow, and released the vampire-killer toward Hartwell’s core.
Garrison Phillips stood calmly erect and reached out his thick leather- gloved right hand and caught the arrow an inch away from Hartwell’s
slowly-pumping, cold, heart.
“We have to go,” Gary said as he clutched Hartwell’s arm and exited the bar with Thaddeus in hot pursuit.
“Flying would be good!” Gary yelled as the now-winged Hartwell took flight with Thaddeus jumping in the air and transformed into an oversized hawk.
Hartwell looked back at Gary and asked, “When did I get these?” “You mean to tell me that all this time you didn’t know you had
wings?” Gary replied in disbelief.
Thaddeus the hawk came speeding by and shredded Gary’s back with one of his huge talons.
“Aahhhhhhhhhh!” he screamed and then composed himself and said, “Do you mind going a little faster, big guy?”
They continued the back and forth battle through Pennsylvania until reaching the border of New Jersey. Hartwell’s limited flying experience was no match for Thaddeus’ proficient use of wind currents and advanced obstacle-avoidance methods.
A few more vicious swipes of the talon and Gary and Hartwell were grounded. The 400-yard, full-speed fall would have crushed any mortal, but Gary quickly helped Hartwell up and Hartwell naively said, “Maybe we lost him.”
It was 4:30 a.m. and the nearly-full moon was still shining brightly. Hartwell was facing Gary and a huge shadow consumed both of their forms.
“Not in this lifetime,” Gary said as Hartwell turned and looked straight in the belly of a massive grizzly bear.
“Run!” Hartwell yelled trying to utilize a sophisticated tactic he often utilized when he was alive. But Gary, playing the part of the ultimate protector, stayed behind to try to slow the angry creature down.
Gary changed into a wolf and literally howled at the moon before jumping at Thaddeus’ furry neck, jaw clenched on its target. The wounded bear roared in anger and pain and attempted in vain to shake the determined Gary off of him. Thaddeus regained his thoughts long enough to swipe his lengthy upper claws and puncture the body of the wolf like a pin cushion. Gary yelped in pain and then Thaddeus effortlessly tossed his limp body deep into the forest brush.
Hartwell was so confused by the turn of events that he ran as fast as he could instead of gliding, teleporting, or flying away. Although he had received three days of comprehensive information when he was making the transformation from mortal to vampire, it had been 18 years and the
vampire was desperately in need of a refresher course.
Thaddeus the bear roared and the ground shook as he started running in the direction of Hartwell. While Hartwell had a good 30-second head start on Thaddeus, the speedy bear quickly made up the stagger, shocking Hartwell, who was scared for the first time in his vampire life.
He muttered under his breath, “What in god’s name…” as he turn around to see the bear lumbering toward him at an impressive speed.
Thaddeus grabbed Hartwell from behind and wasted no time ending their first of many battles. He picked the vampire over his head and then impaled him through a long, sharp branch of an adjacent tree. Hartwell, his back to the tree, had a four-inch-wide tree trunk running through his back and most importantly, his heart, as he dangled five feet off the ground.
Before Hartwell died, Thaddeus turned back into his human form and walked up to Hartwell, “That’s one,” he said as he waved the index finger of his right hand.
It took an hour for life to reset, with Gary coming to first as a wolf and then morphing back to his human form. He slowly rose to his feet and then followed the tracks and scents that led him to his greatest nightmare: Hartwell impaled on the massive tree branch.
He climbed up a few branches and pushed Hartwell from the back, freeing him like a piece of meat from a skewer. Hartwell landed solidly on the ground and Gary said to himself, “We have to work on that landing.”
He walked quickly over to Hartwell’s body and helped him up, although the vampire had still not come back to life. Gary swung his fist and pounded Hartwell’s chest a few times until Hartwell gasped as if he was being held under water and was close to running out of oxygen. Hartwell then doubled over and coughed violently as he sought to regain his equilibrium.
Gary patted him on the back and Hartwell bristled, “I’m okay! Just give me a minute! It’s been a while since I’ve died. Well, at least, technically.”
Hartwell slowly straightened his body and scanned Gary from toe to head on the way up.
He looked confused, “Who are you, and why are you naked?” Gary started to explain, “Because…”
“Hold that thought,” Hartwell interrupted as he took off his long trench coat and handed it to Gary.
“For god’s sake, man! Cover yourself up! Sorry, but I don’t make it a habit of talking to naked men in the middle of the woods.”
Gary couldn’t answer right away, and then replied with a blush on his cheeks, “This is my first.”
“Oh great! A forest virgin! Why do I always get stuck with the forest virgins?” Hartwell exclaimed as they started walking together.
“We have to get to the ocean,” Gary stated. “And my name is
Garrison, but my friends call me Gary.”
Hartwell’s memory of his early training was sparse, but he did remember the picture of the beach and the word ‘SAFETY.'
“Let’s get airborne to safety then,” Hartwell replied.
&nb
sp; Gary moved behind Hartwell and put his hands on his shoulders. “Just make sure you keep your ‘boys’ behind the material. I’m going
to have to get a new coat,” Hartwell stated.
Gary shrugged off the seemingly endless stream of insults and said, “I hear Maine is nice this time of year.”
Hartwell softened as his wings unfurled, and then they took to the air. “Maine it is,” he said, “But I’m going to need a refresher course.”
SEVEN
Three years went by as if it were one long stream of consciousness for Daniel. He was now on the verge of turning 12 years old, and the world outside his head was speeding up on a daily basis.
Middle school was a veritable cesspool of wasted and misguided energy, wrapped in a veiled attempt to educate the emotionally dysfunctional. But, the years would not be a total waste for Daniel, Nicole, and Andrew, because they were already working on their vital ‘life’ skills.
Hartwell was with Daniel, in his protégé’s backyard. The astral mind projection was one in a series of ‘lessons’ the two would run through often.
The vampire utilized his early sessions with Gary on the beach in Pequot, Maine, to formulate the slow, steady, leak of information into the tween’s developing brain. Crucial to any avoidance foundation was a full course-load of Eastern discipline, starting with a big serving of tai chi.
Daniel was peacefully going through a 45-minute, cleansing routine when his mother ran into her home-office to answer the phone.
“Don’t forget to breathe through the transitions,” Hartwell said to Daniel as he looked over with unyielding pride at his reason for dying.
Daniel smiled back and took a deep, cleansing breath that swirled in his nostrils and lungs, clearing his mind of obstructions.
“I can’t imagine what these boys are going to be like when they're teenagers?” Emily Brewster exclaimed as she watched her son Andrew pulverize a chord of wood with one powerful strike of his fist.
Belinda walked into the kitchen as her sister-in-law continue to vent, and looked out the window at Daniel in amazement. She smiled and replied, “Those years should be something else.”
Nicole Phillips’ training was quite different than her male counterparts. She spent most of her time at the beach, with a steady regiment of running and hours of swimming… how she loved to swim!
While the three friends had slipped into their roles expected by their parents and mentors, it was by accident - or Hartwell’s hand - that the blatant misfire of their collective gene pools was not exposed. It was quite by chance that subsequent generations of hunters or mammalian protectors were generated in the first place. When Cal and Emily Brewster were born to parents Thaddeus and Mary Brewster, Thaddeus assumed
that his wife had given birth to the miracle of hunter twins. Years of playing
two versus one against Hartwell and Garrison left him tired and worn, and suddenly hoping to regain that early advantage he quickly relinquished.
But Mary Brewster was mortal and knew nothing of hunting, other than her husband had the appetite of a hungry bear set loose on a human campsite. She was now 90 years old and ‘still kicking,' according to her. Thad and Mary was an odd couple, especially considering that he looked on the younger side of 60.
The aging process for the hunters and mammals were slightly accelerated in comparison to Hartwell - who barely aged – but was much more protracted than the average human.
Thaddeus had been looking in the mirror with greater frequency since the family moved to Beach Haven. He hadn’t realized it but he had aged five years since Hartwell injected his blood into Daniel’s only months
earlier, because the action seemed to unscramble the natural order of
Hartwell’s inner circle.
Andrew and Nicole were supposed to be normal kids until Hartwell’s blood began percolating inside of Daniel. The forcible entry of Hartwell’s vampirism into Daniel sparked a typical chain of events, including the birth of a personal hunter and mammal ally to Daniel. But, instead of moving
outside the circle, the cosmic call-up went to the closest people to him: the families of Thaddeus Brewster and Garrison Phillips.
The years following their re-introduction had done little to soften Daniel and Andrew’s person Olympics and their combative fondness of Nicole. Only now, they were tri-captains of the Beach Haven Middle School Pirates Volleyball Team, which had been changed from separate boys and girls to one co-ed team, because the school district was cutting back its sports budget.
The boys had come up short in their campaigns to play every other sport that involved direct contact, as a family discussion at a barbecue decided their fate.
“I used to be quite a football player when the ‘wing-t’ was all the rage,’ Thaddeus Brewster said as he threw the football to Andrew, who started running until Daniel caught him and they crashed through the solid wood fence, creating a silhouette of two football players.
Belinda looked astoundingly at Emily and Emily quickly said, “That sport is out.”
Normal parents would have jumped up and wondered if their sons were all right, but this group had grown to expect rough play from these two.
One by one, sports were attempted until little remained of the wood fence that surrounded the half-acre backyard. With Andrew and Daniel around, that fence was repaired almost nightly by Thaddeus and Emily, who used their abilities to become expert carpenters and fix the holes within minutes each night.
Baseballs were thrown at 110 miles per hour and hit even faster coming back – not exactly believable accomplishments for smallish 12 year-olds. Belinda had limited knowledge of team sports, and just thought
the boys were having a good time playing together. Either that or she was in complete denial.
The sight of the 5’3” Daniel dunking a basketball was seen only by the Brewster’s, who shielded Belinda from the YouTube-worthy feat. Even she would know that something was amiss if she witnessed the 360- degree, whirling jam.
When a soccer ball went zooming past Thaddeus’ head, the sports on the banned list grew to six – including baseball, basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, and wrestling, which was quickly eliminated when Daniel and Drew cut off each other’s air supplies before Belinda untangled them.
The only sports left were tennis and volleyball. Emily looked to
Thaddeus for confirmation and he stated, “I don’t like tennis.”
So, volleyball it was, “It might be good for you boys to be on the same team for a change,” Emily said when told of the decision.
Thaddeus looked at Emily with a ‘knowing’ smile, because they both surmised that the boys were already on the same team… the anti-Hartwell team.
By mid-season ‘The Three Slamigo’s,' as they were called, were brought up to the struggling high school team. Mind you, it was unheard of for eight-grade athletes to make the jump to the varsity team, let alone to receive a promotion to the junior varsity.
Volleyball was a sport played with six players on each side, yet the other three players on the eight-grade team could have retired to study hall, or just merely sat on the sideline, when Nicole, Drew, and Daniel took over.
The game was played with new rules following the decision to make the team co-ed. Most varsity and junior varsity teams adopted the blended team approach in the throes of a state-wide budget crisis. The rules stated that three girls and three guys had to be on the court at all times, with a boy-girl lineup being consistent throughout the rotation.
Before the first game, Hartwell came to Daniel in a vision while he was getting dressed in the locker room.
“Make sure you get your other teammates involved. The only way to achieve true success is to work together.”
Hartwell enjoyed a great many sporting events over the years, and had ‘dined’ in the some of the finest stadiums and arenas in North America. But his main objective was not for Daniel to eat the other players, it was to foster trust in other peop
le, namely allies that had only his best interests in mind.
The game was still a few minutes away, so Daniel was talking to
Nicole in the hallway outside of the gym. “You look nervous,” Nicole said.
Daniel’s mind was elsewhere, “About what?”
Nicole rolled her eyes and smacked him in the arm – a gesture that she often did to break the tension. The blow would have sent most mortals hurling against the row of green lockers, but Daniel barely budged.
“About the game, space man!” Nicole exclaimed.
Daniel was so deep in thought that he forgot about the game.
“Do you ever have dreams that seem so real that wake up sweating and out of breath?”
Nicole cut the joking and her face turned stone cold, “You have dreams?” she questioned while lowering the tone and volume of her voice.
“All the time,” Daniel replied, “but it’s always the same dream.” They started walking away from the gym and down the hall. Nicole
knew what Daniel was going to say before he even said it. “I’m always being chased.”
Nicole stopped and smacked him in the arm, “No way! That’s my dream, too! Do you ever go under water?”
Daniel replied, “Not that I know of, but this last dream I was running away from this bear and…”
“It was really fast, wasn’t it?” Nicole interjected.
“It was definitely too fast for a bear to be running,” Daniel stated. “Did you get away?”
“Only after someone helped me get away… after the bear slashed me in the back with it huge right claw.”
Nicole winced, “Ow! That must have hurt,” she said.
