THE COLD ONES

A vampire tale.

     This is a true story of what happened to me, back when I was a 20 year old university student. I don't think much of those days anymore but I wanted to put down this memory before time dulled it and I wouldn't be able to recall it as crisply and clearly as I do now. Maybe the memory would never fade but even so, I put this story down anyway. Back then my name was Katie, my birth name. I was 20 years old.  Now, I am 71 years old and go by the name Charlotte. I still pass easily for 20 years of age. I've aged but time hasn't at all touched my body. Therefore I think of myself as timeless. I am immortal and I am a vampire. This is my story of how it happened, how I became a vampire, one of the cold ones. Maybe my story is interesting to some, but not to others. But here it is anyway:

     I'd first met Frank at the university I was attending. We had several classes together. I hadn't really noticed him but he'd spotted me. He told me this. Near winter break he'd asked me out to a movie. I was surprised but said no. I wasn't into going out with guys I didn't know and told him so which only resulted in him going out of his way so I could get to know him. Finding me on campus, studying together in little groups and eventually alone. A couple months went by. I started to feel comfortable with Frank. I thought him okay looking, very pale with a haunted starved look about him. I never saw him eat. I thought maybe he was a male anorexic. But I didn't mind. We never went out to eat which was just fine by me. I suffered anorexia myself and not having to make excuses to not eat was a relief and very refreshing.

     One afternoon after class he invited me to his dorm room. He said he just wanted me to see it as he'd peeked in to see mine. I didn't think anything wrong with it. I knew his floor would be brimming with other students. And it was. When we reached his door another student approached him, asking him a question. He opened his door and told me I could wait for him inside. He wanted to help this guy and told me it would only take a couple minutes. I did. After about 10 minutes he returned. Before I could make my exit, telling him I liked his room, he was shutting the door and was on top of me.

     Right away he started ripping at my clothes, telling me he was sooo soo hungry for me. I felt the bite at my throat and screamed as loud as I could. Which didn't result in anything. I was in a swirl of pain and pleasure and an unending nightmare claiming me. I knew he was drinking my blood. I could hear the slurping sounds. What the hell was he? A vampire or a psycho pretending to be one? It didn’t matter. He was powerful and I had no chance what so ever to break out of his hold. I died.

    When I woke totally changed, no longer human, the first thing I felt was a hatred for Frank and I would kill him. I woke with a painful tortured hunger and I woke alone. Where was Frank? Why wasn't he here to help me? I felt so cold and so hungry, like a savage. My hearing was heightened, as was my sight and sense of smell. I left my room determined to get what I was so hungry for. I knew it was blood. I needed no one to tell me. I knew what a vampire was, who didn't? I would kill a fellow student or go out and hunt dogs in the city. I decided no dogs.

      When I left my room a very young man was standing there as if waiting for me. I knew he was a vampire. He had the same white skin with veins showing through, gaunt hungry look and intense eyes. He gave me an empty smile. He said his name was James. He was Frank's brother. He was here to take care of what his brother abandoned. Me.

     I smiled and told him I wasn't interested. He shrugged, turned and headed for the elevator. I let him go. Once he was gone I got on the elevator and headed out into the night. Hunting. For blood and for Frank. I would kill him. I never told him I wanted to be a vampire. I was hungry and in so much pain.

I went to a nearby park. A huge one mostly in a wild condition. Beautiful. I loved this park. I quickly figured out I wasn't at all interested in dog and not so noble after all. I killed my first human in this lovely wild park this night, my first night as a vampire. I was so overwhelmed and hungry I lost control. I killed a middle aged man and drank him dry. I felt so much better. I felt so powerful, confident and in charge. Frank showed up. I stood from my dead human with his blood still on my face. Good job Frank said with a dead looking smile on his face which I didn't like at all.

     I growled and flung myself at him, picking up a strong stick with a sort of point at the end. Frank never saw it coming. I staked him in the heart. I aimed and my aim was true. He gasped, cried out and fell. Dead. I hoped anyway. How could I tell if a vampire was dead? I easily dragged his body into the shrubbery and easily dug a hole he would fit in. I put Frank in his grave and buried him. Then I left. I didn't see anyway I could continue attending classes at the university as a vampire. I went into the city.

      Here I set up a new life for myself. I found a job in a little cafe that served coffee to the coffee fanatics with sweets and sandwiches along with the coffee. This cute little cafe was inside one of several old but beautiful brick buildings with the city street on one side and a charming cobble street road on the other side. I rented a tiny apartment in the brick building next door. Behind the cafe on the cobblestone street was where outdoor tables were set up. I lived this life well into summer. I quickly learned to control my hunger by never letting myself be overwhelmed by it. I fed on several humans a night and that way I never killed anyone like I did the first time I fed as a vampire.

     I met Jesse during this time. He was a regular customer and I think he liked me. He was always coming in to chat while he drank coffee. He stayed for hours on his day off. I worried. I didn't want a relationship with a human. Not now that I was a vampire. He was young and good looking. I didn't know what to do. He had brown eyes and shoulder length sandy hair. I was happy with my new life and managed to keep Jesse at arms length. I liked him but I didn't have a strong attraction for him sexually but as food, yeah I did and I didn't want to go there. Summer in the city was warm and peaceful. My job and apartment kept me content. Until James showed up. Somehow I knew he would but had hoped he just wouldn't.

     It was a warm summer afternoon. I went to the cafe window that overlooked the tables out on the cobblestone street and saw Jesse and James sitting at a table together. I couldn't even laugh or even smile at the stupid coincidence of their names. I felt cold horror at the sight of James sitting there chatting up Jesse while he sipped his ice coffee and nibbled his sweet roll. Suddenly this back street didn't look so peaceful with its shady trees, bird song and with the tall glittery city buildings as a back drop. I could easily hear through the glass front window that James was trying to convince Jesse he didn't really like me. I felt a rage building in me. How dare James come here to ruin what I'd built. But I had killed his brother but only after what he'd done to me. James saw me watching from the window and smiled, giving me a little wave I realized then that James wanted me for himself and was trying to rid himself of the competition of this human that I wasn't the least bit interested in. I was glad that he hadn't just killed Jesse to get him out of the way. Jesse was a nice human, I couldn't deny that. I'd have hated to see him killed by James.

     I opened the door that led out to this area behind the dusky red brick buildings and walked over to the table. Jesse smiled and said hi while James just looked me up and down. It was then he told me Frank wasn't dead, that James had found him and revived him. He said he wasn't mad at what I'd done, that he understood. Frank was a loser anyway and not worthy of me. James wasn’t here for revenge he told me. Even so I didn't feel my fear of his presence here wan in the least bit.

      Jesse looked back and forth listening to us, his expression going from curiosity to concern until he finally asked what we were talking about. I asked Jesse not to repeat anything that he'd just heard, I asked him please not to. He still demanded to know what was going on. Hearing that I'd killed this man's brother had him very concerned. But James had no problem telling Jesse what was going on. He told him that we were vampires, that was why he didn't really want to be with me. Jesse looked like he didn't believe yet he wondered. I decided it was time for me to leave. James had just ruined my life here. It was time to move on. I hadn't any attachments so I didn't hesitate to take off on the spot.

    I leaped over the table, landing on the top of the high wrought iron fence that ran along the side street which the outdoor tables were set beside. I heard Jesse say something about vampires but I didn't pay him any attention. I easily balanced there for a moment then I leaped again, sailing the long distance to the end of this side street. I heard Jesse yelling which was followed by the cold empty laughter of James. I took off running, heading for the downtown area. I knew James was coming after me. I wondered briefly what was going to happen to Jesse. Would he be killed for knowing about vampires or left to live, knowing about them yet knowing no one would believe him if he ever did tell anyone of his experience this day. I didn't much care if I never saw Jesse again. He had been friendly but nothing more than a food source for me. But James. He wasn't going to let me go.

     This isn't the end of my story, only the beginning of my life as an immortal, as a vampire, as one of the cold ones. And it's been a good life so far and one without end........

Reviews

[Graysin Angel]

You wrote my favorite one word sentence. Dead. We have many things in common. You write true stories, yet others do not understand that. You are "Immortal" and I am "Dead Alive". You are a Vampire who will one day be a leader. I am a Wraith who already leads an army. Feeding on Humans will always be a central issue. In the case of Vampires it is for blood, for Wraiths it is life energy. Keep in mind, however, that we are in the Afterlife and things are not the same. When you died, you did not come back to the same Earth. You are on the "Internet For the Dead" now. You are actually not 71 years old, you are 71 billion years old. Time works differently here. I am over 127 myself. Most of us just use the numbers without saying "years old". Of course, we must sometimes use language that others will understand. There are many who know about you. I only hope that you have not fallen victim to disbelieving your own story.

[Tina Kline]

Thank you!

[genocide]

very good story written very dark

[Tina Kline]

thanks,my friend.

[lee von cleef]

love your intro, and the blood spills, pooling the ink on a beautiful page.

[Tina Kline]

Thank you. Much appreciated!

[Coyote Song]

Fantastic story. Frightful without a lot of graphic violence. I like it. I can't help but want to know what happens to her after she flees her life at the cool sounding brick buildings and cobblestone street cafe and apartment.

[Tina Kline]

Thanks very much! I always appreciate your reviews...

[Craig2591]

Cool story. Are you going to continue it? Does James continue to hunt her down wherever she goes?

[Tina Kline]

Thanks very much! Yes, there is a lot more and James won't let her go. Jesse and Frank stick around too.

[Aethereal]

This has been a suspenseful read. Blood has been a powerful symbol throughout recorded history. Ancient cultures used to bleed their cattle, and then drink this blood the same as we would drink milk. Different mystic persuasions would symbolize blood as being a vehicle for eternal life: The Blood of the Lamb. Ancient South American religions had various blood rites. The Roman Catholic Church has its blood rite. I can well understand how folklore developed around symbolic blood.

[Tina Kline]

Thanks so much!