EMILY

A vampire's tale.

    She woke in a dark cramped place. At first she panicked and thrashed about, hitting the sides and lid with her arms and legs. Then memory flooded her and her fright subsided. She was safe, waking this way was normal for her now, ever since she had become one of the undead. She took a deep breath even though she didn’t breathe anymore. It was just a habit born of being human for 27 years before becoming the undead just 7 days ago. Or nights perhaps, she thought. Whenever she woke it was like this. Panic, icy cold panic before her mind caught up with her body.

    Concentrate, Emily told herself. It’s easy to get out of the coffin even though its six feet down in the ground. At least that’s what Emily had always heard, that coffins were buried six feet down into the ground. She cleared her mind and focused on becoming mist. She felt her body buzz with an electrical feeling then she became light and insubstantial. She focused on the seam around the coffin lid where it rested against the body of the coffin. There was a very tiny nick at one place and she flowed through it easily and flowed up through the earth. Emily became solid again perched on her grave marker.

    Large black night birds flocked around her, flapping their wings loudly. One perched on her grave marker with her. Emily reached out and touched the night bird on the head softly. It made a soft clicking sound in return. Emily was hungry, very hungry, so starved her body ached with it. She had only been a vampire 7 days and hated to think she’d feel this all consuming, rather nightmarish hunger for eternity.

    She sniffed at the slightly chilly night breeze, seeking him. The male vampire who had made her. She growled softly thinking of him. She had thought him a handsome and very unusual man and had taken him as her lover for that reason. He was unique and fun to be with. She had never questioned why she saw him only at night. His story as to why had been so reasonable she hadn’t thought anything of it. Emily laughed at herself. No reasonable person would question why they only saw someone after dark. Vampires weren’t real, after all, until one bit you and drank your blood or until one turned you and you started biting people and drinking their blood.

    The large black night birds flapped their wings; the one perched on her grave marker made clicking sounds again, louder this time as if in warning. Victor appeared standing beside where Emily was still perched on her grave marker. Emily jumped down from it and stood beside him. The night bird took off and joined its flock in the nearby trees.

    “I hurt.” said Emily. “I hate this.”

    Victor smiled, his eyes like twin scarlet orbs in his frost white face. His shoulder length straight hair was white and his teeth, thin and sharp, shimmered in the shadowy darkness. “Don’t worry Emily. All new borns experience this. It will pass.”

    “Like in 100 years!”

    “Time doesn’t matter anymore. You’re an Immortal now. You’ll live thousands of years. What is 100 years, give or take, for a person who will live thousands and thousands of years?”

    Emily laughed a high shrill sound. She put a hand over her mouth to stop the sound. I’m insane with hunger, she thought. “Everyone knows vampires can be easily killed.”

    Victor put his arm around her thin shoulders. She felt his icy cold dead body feeling. I probably feel the same way, Emily thought. Victor’s long black leather duster brushed the tops of his black boots. “Come now Emily. You’re real, not something born of old Hollywood movies. Even fire or decapitation cannot kill us. They can slow us down but that is all. We are Immortal, we cannot die.” He led her through the cemetery. The night breeze rattled the old tree limbs creating an eeriness. The cemetery was old and so were the trees growing there but it wasn’t an abandoned place, it was very well taken care of.

    Emily spotted a shadow with glowing yellow eyes watching them as they neared the street. She knew who and what it was. A boy werewolf who went by the name Wolf Boy and lived in the cemetery too.   

    When they reached the sidewalk Victor stopped. Emily made a whimpering sound. She wanted to hunt, to snatch her victim and rip out their throat and gorge on their blood. I’m an animal, she thought with a fanged smile, but I don’t care, I’m starving.

   The werewolf was a few feet away, watching them out of his yellow eyes, waiting. Emily turned her head to look at Wolf Boy and smiled. She thought him cute when in his human form. He had been 19 when bitten by a female werewolf. That had been back in the 1970s. Victor had discovered him and taken him under his protection and taught him how to live alongside humans without discovery. He and Victor had hunted together for years. Victor drank their prey’s blood and the werewolf boy ate the flesh. But neither needed to hunt nightly, only she did. And Victor was there to help her, to teach her and so was Wolf Boy. He didn’t eat nightly but he was there to help protect Emily from danger and from herself if she lost control.

    “Ah.” said Victor. “Some one comes.”

    They stood on the sidewalk, Victor in his black clothes and long black leather duster, the Wolf Boy looking like a big husky dog and Emily looking like she was quite insane but passably pretty. And their prey moved unsuspectingly toward them and toward their death.

    Emily trembled in eager anticipation of the blood meal about to be had. Wolf Boy

parted his jaws and swished his shaggy tail to and fro. Victor stood there, slightly crouched, waiting for the best time to leap.

    The person walking toward them was a tall man, around twenty five, wearing a long open trench coat. As he neared them his eye swept over them and a smile spread across his face. “Ah ha!” He shouted, leaped forward and drew a sword from beneath his trench coat in one smooth and skillful motion. The sword arched and then swept toward Victor as if it had a life all of its own.

    Wolf Boy snarled and Emily screamed and started forward. With a howl Wolf Boy leaped and brought Emily down to protect her. At the same time Victor was moving forward snarling himself, hands out and curled, talons ready to strike. The sword struck Victor, effectively and easily slicing off his head. His headless body moved forward several more steps then fell forward. His head hit the grass with a dull squishy thud, then bounced around several times and rolled a few feet before coming to a halt.

    The man took a couple steps toward where Emily lay on the ground, a malicious smile twisting his lips. “Get up little vampire girl. You’re already dead so surrender.” He raised his sword to just above his shoulder.

    Wolf Boy crouched and snarled at the killer. Emily, sobbing with blood tears on her cheeks, scuttled backwards then misted.

    “Damn.” muttered the Hunter. “I hate it when they do that.” He watched the swirling mist that was the vampire speeding away over the lawn of the cemetery and disappear amongst the grave markers and old trees with the werewolf following behind it. “Later honey. I will find you and take your head from your body too.” The Hunter made a quick call on his cell phone for help removing his vampire. He flipped his phone closed and quickly but carefully bagged the vampire’s head in one bag and zipped up his headless body in a body bag. “Your head and body will never get the chance to reassemble. A fitting eternity of misery for you blood sucker, being aware and knowing your head and body are separated and suffering the madness of knowing this.” He chuckled and waited for the pick up.

 

    On the far side of the cemetery Emily became solid and again perched on her grave marker, blood tears streaming down her pale face. Wolf Boy approached her in his human form. Emily sobbed quietly, afraid, lost and not knowing what to do now that Victor was dead. She saw Wolf Boy and cried out, “I thought vampires were Immortal and couldn’t be killed! Victor is dead! He got killed! We both just saw it!”

    “Victor isn’t dead. He still lives. Someday, somehow, his head and body will get back together so he can heal.”

    Emily cried out a loud wailing sound of despair.

    Wolf Boy reached for Emily. “Come on. We can’t stay here. The vampire hunters will come looking for you.”

    Emily jumped down off her grave marker. “Where can I go? How can I exist without Victor?”

    “I’ll help you. I’ve been around a while. You know how to hunt now. We can help each other.” offered Wolf Boy.

    Emily looked at him and sniffed several times. She made a sad whimpering sound.

    “Come on.” said Wolf Boy. “I know a house where we can live. It has a basement where you can put a new coffin. We can take the cash that we find on our prey for money that we’ll need. We can survive together. Wanna try with me Emily?” Wolf Boy pleaded, putting on his best sad face hoping to win her over. He liked Emily and wanted her for himself. Now was his chance with Victor taken out of the picture if she’d only agree. He waited while Emily considered.

    Emily sighed and smiled. She held out her pale icy cold hand to Wolf Boy. “Okay, if it’s not safe here anymore.”

    Grinning, Wolf Boy took Emily’s cold hand. “It isn’t safe. You just saw what happened to Victor. We’ll be seeing him again someday way in the future.” Wolf Boy led Emily from her life in the cemetery with Victor to her new life living in a house with him.

  

 

Reviews

[Black Cat Fever]

A rather dark vampire tale that has a happy ending with Emily going off to live with Wolf Boy, she won't be living in her grave anymore. Nice take on the Immortality part, the head and body of Victor won't die but hope someday to be able to come back together in healing. Like this story a lot.

[Coyote Song]

I enjoyed this dark vampire tale. Nicely written story. It is very engaging with likeable characters.

[Tina Kline]

Thanks for the reviews!

[Wolf's Dark Song]

A compelling vampire tale. Violence, darkness and some compassion. Very interesting horror piece.

[Tina Kline]

Thunks so much.

[trish420]

I rather liked it.... I liked the romanticism of the head and body yearning for eachother until they make their way back together. The last few lines also struck me in an odd way, made me think of the irony of saying they she will be "living" anywhere anymore.

[Jaidyn DeVoir]

a fantastic write. you showed very well the insecurities of a new vampire and how the blood lust takes control. Great write and great read

With Love,

Jaidyn

[Star Wolf]

Awesome story! I'd like to read more stories about Emily and Wolf Boy and I'm sure Victor will make another appearance in their lives too. Very different.

[Eric Cox]

A cool vampire story with cool characters, except the vampire hunter of course. This is a unique, cool horror story that could continue with more tales. This is a cool write, great pen on this.