“Louis! You must help me, I can no longer bear being in the same room with him!”
Ah! Words spoken by a hysterical woman; a cheating wife no less. This woman and the tale I shall now recount to you is quite a memorable one, to me at least. This is the tale of two men I came to meet—the woman involved was only incidental. The men however are far more memorable as you will see.
I begin by discussing one of them. A gentleman you have no doubt heard of. Sadly he was crazy. Yes, crazy. He was mad, driven nearly insane by his jealous nature. You see he still loved his wife. Yet despite that he had accused her on innumerable occasions of having affairs, which to be fair to him, she was sometimes engaged in. But there were reasons for this as she told me herself.
“He drives me wild, reading passages out loud from the bible! Even our child cannot stand it. I plead with him to stop but he will not listen, oh Louis what am I to do?”
I didn’t know. I had in my time come across murderous religious zealots, so fired up with their hate-filled agenda that they sent thousands to their deaths.
Welcome to a new monthly section that says goodbye to our monster of the month until next year. Going forward, on the last day of each month, we will post fun, 50 word stories and poems written throughout the month in honor of our featured monster. These shorts are both funny and horrific, and we [...]
Just as it did with the Vampire and the Werewolf, Hollywood decided that the Zombie, in itself was not horrific enough and needed, shall we say, some tweaking? Hence, all Zombies now are flesh eaters and the only way to destroy them is to sever, in some way, the neural network of the spine from [...]
A Florentine sky at dusk, streaked with orange fire was my backdrop, as I walked along the Ponte Vecchio feeling lonely and dejected.
The city looked magnificent in the half light of fading day and approaching night like a living thing ready for sleep, but perhaps not quite yet.
The taverns were full and voices were raised in song, chatter and laughter too. I listened and sighed. It is difficult to be apart when all around me I see life lived. My existence and I are something else, something apart and yet connected.
I have told you enough of my existence so far for you to know that absolute immortality does bring with it sad and often hopeless isolation. When you are fallen angel spawn and condemned to live forever, forever troubles more than it thrills I fear.
This was how I felt in the spring of 1502 when I, merely out for an evening stroll, happened to see the most fascinating creature—rushing along as though her life depended upon it. She carried herself with such grace and I found myself following, watching her great billowing gown glide smoothly over the cobblestones as if to bless them.
Before he started the climb, James spied an old pickup parked about fifty yards away from the bottom of the cliffs, next to it a small adobe house revealed a dim light just visible through a side window. The security guard must have been asleep or bombed, James passed by without incident.
The climb was exhilarating. The desert landscape was a surrealistic study of black and white tones in the ribbon of moonlight.
There was a path on the rim of the cliffs that led to a wide-mouthed opening about eight feet high and ten feet wide and inside three caves honeycombing an area that spread out into the body of the cliffs. James checked his utility belt to make sure he had all the gear he needed. There was the usual assortment: small hammers, picks, brushes, and leather pouches.
Nights were cool in the desert and so James had worn his heavy jeans and long-sleeved denim shirt. However, the temperature in the mouth of the central opening took a drastic rise to that outside, causing his clothes to stick and feel clammy. Then he reached the first cave and the darkness was an oppressive inky blackness in a dank pool of air that his flashlight’s high beam struggled to penetrate.
He was suddenly aware of slow movement to his left. The realization began to dawn on him even before he rolled over just what it was. It was her. She hadn’t left, though he wished that she had. He had done her, to be sure, exploring every part of her that she would allow, and even a place or two that he had had no interest in venturing to, but come the morning, he had hoped that the bitch would be gone.
The old church crouched on the corner, ignored. Dawn light crept into the chapel, filtering through dozens of tiny panes of stained glass. The workshop was once a nave, but the only worship now was that of the bald old man hunched over the form of a young lady on a table. There was a scraping as he worked the body, fitting together joints made of wood, plastic, and ceramic with tender care. The curves of the manikin took shape under his thin, gnarled hands. He slid his callused fingers along a newly-smoothed arm and grinned, showing dozens of silver-capped peg teeth.
“We must all accept our destiny I think. It is best. Now then won’t you join me in that drink I promised you? I really think you could use it. Come, we shall sit quietly over our absinthes and I shall tell you great secrets of worlds you cannot imagine.”
He looked interested so I continued: “I must tell you of my heritage first but fear not had I wished to kill you, you would already be dead; besides I just saved you. You sit with a demon sir. Not a vampire per se but the spawn of a fallen angel and a human woman. You know of the legend?”
He nodded.
He was amazing, rock solid and cool to the touch. My fingers lightly traveled his skin leaving quivers where they had touched. Low and seductive his growls kept sounding from his throat. I continued to explore his body until he seized my wrist in an instant. Staring down at me, he brought it up to his mouth and began to lick. A pleasurable smile crept over his face and continued as if he were having something sweet. His tongue, so cold, soft and yet, so inviting I begged for more. I offered my other wrist to which he didn’t hesitate.
My orb is not what it seemed. My orb a glowing monster with teeth like daggers and twice as sharp that tore through my skin, pierced every vessel, muscle and organ. My eyes widened as the pain spread through my body, rendering me motionless.
My father warned me about the air in New Orleans, but I had to see the city, this growing metropolis, for myself, she thought as she walked down Bourbon Street. Before her visit to the city at the mouth of the Mississippi river, Miranda had thought New York City to be the height of cosmopolitan culture. She wasn’t certain if New Orleans could surpass New York in all the trade and commerce, but New Orleans had something New York didn’t …a soul.
Paul leaned over the counter. “You’re dead Kimberly.” His tongue was foaming. Then he laughed maliciously. He leaned closer, right up to her face as her expression soured. Her cheeks lost color. Her biffy braces vanished in a frown. She looked so stiff and icky that the tension almost launched several white heads from her face. Speechless, out of breath, the cashier stood there in awe. The calloused Nucker strolled away, snickering. “See ya real soon…Bitch,” he warned, barely catching an ear. Then he slid out past the sliding glass doors like a serpent.
She breathes hard inside the confined space, flinching with every sound she hears. There is the sound of what seems like chains above her but it’s hard to be sure, even with her abilities. Occasionally a loud bang startles her and it’s everything she can do to stop herself crying out. She tightens her hands into fists, nails digging into bloody palms as again, noises far too close for comfort, follow one after another.
Feeling the electrical anticipation of the feed, he lofted to a door on a second story balcony—leading directly to his quarry. It was locked, but the mere desire for it to be open was all one of Nebuchadnezzar’s power needed to make it so… and being invited? Such was but… superstition—by the young and inexperienced of his kind. Entering silently, he was greeted immediately by the overwhelming scent of the blood! That heady, intoxicating nectar that was life itself! Satiation at hand, he—
Yaga her mate was feasting on the young man who lay torn and bleeding. The blood would soon stop however, that was why vampires always went for the blood engorged organs first.
It was ecstatic—almost sensual and they both moaned with pleasure. But then she sensed something untoward and glanced up. She hissed when she saw them.
I closed my eyes, better to concentrate and feel what they were doing to her–as their caresses turned into something else—their touch into tearing, their passionate mouths into feeding and their teeth into biting.
I pushed aside all negative thoughts as easily as I erased myself from mortal recollection and with an air of authority, only we the kindred possessed, strolled into the beating heart of London life, eager once more to murder my family again and again.
‘Untrue to myself. I have thoughts I dare not give platform to speak their evil. I know not what to do or how to proceed. I fear,’ yet another pause, pregnant with tension. ‘I fear I no longer know how to proceed with my own life. I beg the dear Father’s help, if he will oblige me?’
His eyes had changed to amber, but now, now that his angry got the best of him, they blackened once more, and his lips curled over his teeth, exposing fangs. A low guttural noise came from his throat as he hunched over, ready for the kill.
“I pulled into my parking stall late that first night and shut off the car. We don’t have a parking lot, just a few spaces in the alley: there’s only eight units in the complex anyway, so we don’t need much. I drive a 98 Mustang convertible; yellow with black lines and when I opened the door, something caught my ear.”
“Hannah.”
“It sounded very otherworldly, as if I heard it, but not really. More like I felt it. I thought someone was crying, and then realized that that wasn’t it, it was somebody calling. However, when I stopped to listen, it was gone. I stood there in the dark for a while to see if it’d come back, but it didn’t. I was tired and hungry, so I probably only gave it a few seconds before I finally turned and headed for my apartment.”
“I didn’t hear it again until the next night. I had just pulled into my spot and cut the motor.”
“Here, Hannah.”
“It scared the shit outta’ me! I must’ve been daydreaming or something. I even checked the back seat. That’s how close it was.”
“C’mon, Hannah. Come to big sister. Hannah?”
“So I jumped out of the car to see whether I might be able to catch them this time. I wasn’t thinking about ghosts or anything…”
The spinner of the tale paused a moment, slipping out of character. “I know. I love that, too,” he said, directing the comment to some of those who laughed.
