After the Fall (6 page)

“I can’t do this. It isn’t right.”

“You know what isn’t right? Living the life I’m living. When I saw you, I knew there was something special. You’re the Angel of Death, come to take me to the Kingdom.”

Is everyone here insane?
 

I got up and tried to leave, but she held fast and started to come off the bed with me.

“Will you let me go already?”

“At least one kiss. Give me just one kiss and I will let you go,” she promised. It was a lie, but I wanted to believe her, and I wanted to kiss her even more, so I pressed my lips against her. She opened her mouth and shoved her tongue into my mouth, searching for my teeth. Sure enough, she found my fang and pricked her tongue with it, releasing a trickle of blood into my mouth. I lost all restraint and bit down a little harder on the tongue. She let out a moan into my mouth. I was lost in the rush of the blood that flowed into my mouth. At some point, I regained control of myself and pulled back. Her ruby lips were now painted in blood. She licked them clean and looked over my shoulder.

I despaired when I saw the matron standing there with the kettle and cup of tea on a tray. She stood stiff like she had just been paralyzed. There went all hope of leaving this place without any further commotion.

“Evelyn, come here this instant!,” Rhiannon commanded. She seemed so stunned that she obeyed at once. “Set the tray down, please.” After setting the tray down, she stood at the bedside opposite me.

“What did you see here, Evelyn? I want to know, because I know you care about Master Alaric’s feelings, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do, madam.”

“And you wouldn’t want his feelings hurt, would you? That just wouldn’t be something you would do, is it?”

“No, madam.” Her servile attitude was fading. The matron’s face was hardening with defiance. “That would be something for
you
to do. I saw nothing here.” She walked out without excusing herself. Rhiannon smiled at me.

“Now, where were we?” she asked in a sensuous tone.

“I…was just coming to say goodbye. Consider it done.” I bowed and walked out of the room before she could entice me again.

Heaven Sent?

It was night and my hat was unnecessary, but I donned it anyway. The streets were bathed in the dim glow of oil lamps. I pitied the people who had to tend to them, but it was nice to see the place lit. It was dinnertime, and the streets were deserted, which made me consider Plan B: animals. Not just any kind of animal, mind you. I am less cruel than I appear. What I sought were stray animals whose loss would not cause pain to any household. Moreover, I would be rendering a service to the community. I should be praised and lauded for this, but I knew it would not happen. Anyone who saw me would think me a savage and try to lock me up. They would be welcome to try.

Back alleys and passageways are by design a Vampire’s best friend, but I saw precious few of them and none of which housed strays. I am not one to give up easily, but I must have traversed the whole town without finding a single homeless animal. Just as I was about to throw my arms up in the air and take my chances outside the wall, I found the motherlode.

Two guards, fresh off their shift but still in their uniforms were looking for a place to have a good time. After some cajoling, the gamier one of the two agreed to show the other where they could go to “let their hair down for a spell.” Naturally, I followed them. I wasn’t sure if bars and taverns were outlawed here, but they seemed to be highly discouraged. 

They went into one building that led underground to a darkened tunnel with a large steel-reinforced wooden door at the end. There was nothing ornate or crafty here. My Vampire senses smelled the foul acridity of vomit, urine, and a bit of dried blood, probably from a brawl. There were stains on the floor and walls, as well as scuff marks and assorted graffiti, some of a rather crude nature that I will omit for the sake of good taste. The two men walked to the end of the hallway, where they knocked in a certain pattern and waited for the doorman to slide the peephole open. He held out his lantern and recognized the one. He asked him if his friend was going to cause any trouble, which he vehemently denied. The doorman closed the peephole and opened the door. I came a short distance behind them, but the doorman glanced at me and closed the door. Ignoring his display of rudeness, I knocked on the door in the same pattern as the first man, which he believed to have been unheard. The peephole slid open.

“I don’t recognize you. Where did you get the countersign?”

“From some friends. They’re already in here,” I replied.

“Oh, really? Who are they? Everyone who shows up here seems to have a friend already inside, or they’re on their way.”

“Fine, I don’t have a friend inside, but I do have a friend here. Are you interested in coins much?”

He raised an eyebrow in interest. “What do you have?”

It was a complete gamble. I had no idea how much coins were worth anymore. It was a strange hobby of mine to rummage through the dead’s pockets in search of change. I held up a quarter to the door and his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. Apparently, the value of coin money had skyrocketed after the Fall. I was holding a fortune in my bag and pockets. He licked his lips and looked behind him.

“You saying I can keep all this if I let you in?”

“It’s all yours.”

He held out his hand and I deposited the coin in his hand. The quarter disappeared inside his fist and retreated back in the door. He closed the peephole and made me wait a while, far too long for someone who had paid a handsome entrance fee.

“Please come in,” he said. “I spoke to the bartender and he will take care of whatever you want for the first round. Consider it a welcome gift.”

“Thank you.” I smiled and walked into the first apocalyptic speakeasy.

For a tavern, it was fair. The counters were wood with a heavy coat of varnish. People sat around it in stools and also in the few small tables in the place. It was cramped in here, and it reeked of beer, liquor, and tobacco. The crowd around here was mostly of the vulgar persuasion, but there were a few upstanding citizens here hobnobbing with the riffraff. I knew this town was not as holy as it advertised itself.

Now that I was inside, I needed to find a friend. I found one in a man nursing an empty glass at the bar. He was looking like he was a few drinks into a stupor, but the bartender was frustrating his efforts.

“Come on, just one more. You know I’m good for it. I’ll get you back.”

“For the last time,
NO
. I waited
weeks
for you to pay your tab last time. Just go home and sleep it off.”

“I can’t sleep, you know that. And that’s why I drink, so I can sleep. Help me out here.”

“Frank, just stop. It’s not going to fix anything.”

“Wanna bet? A drink fixes me up right every time.”

“You’re not running another tab and that’s it.”

Right at that moment, I strode to the bar to save the night.

“Good evening. You must be the new guy. First drink’s on the house. What will you have?”

“I’ll have a bottle of  your finest firewater,” I said.

“That free drink doesn’t quite cover it.” He crossed his arms and prepared for another argument. I reached in my pocket and produced a copper penny that I proceeded to slide on the counter.

“What will this cover?”

There were two sets of wide eyes this time. Frank snapped out of his buzz.

“My friend, that will cover the bottle and another if you’re still up for it.” He set a bottle of liquid that looked like rainwater, but I knew better. Once upon a time, this was known as moonshine.

“You gonna drink all that?” my new friend slurred.

“I suppose I will need help,” I told him. I might as well have said I had a free ticket to heaven, as bright as his face lit up.

We drank and we talked, but I did most of the talking and him most of the drinking. He was too busy trying to drain the bottle to notice that my glass never emptied. When the bottle was empty and he was almost to his goal, I passed my glass to him.

“Here you go, my good friend. You look like you need it more than I do.”

“I wanna thank you for this,” he slurred.

“Don’t mention it.”

“No, I really want to thank you for this. This is the greatest thing a stranger has done for me. I just want you to know I’m really grateful. You must be an angel from God or something.”

Some angel I am.
“It’s no problem, really.”

His face grew serious. “No, it is. It
is
a big deal. Nothing good ever happens anymore.”

“Why is that?”

“I have nothing left. That’s why I drink. Makes the memories go away, at least for a while.”

“Then enjoy your drink, friend.”

Frank took what was left and downed it in one gulp.

“You want to tell me something about yourself?” I asked.

“Nothing much to tell. I was born and raised in a little village some ways south from here, went by the name of Saltpeter.”

“Sounds interesting.”
Maybe they actually have guns there.

“It ain’t there no more.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I actually wanted to go visit.”

“Well, you can still go see it. It’s all in ruins. Bunch of corpses walking around.”

“You don’t call them demons?”

“Pshhh! That’s what them folks call them here. I’m not too keen on their religion.”

“Why not? Seems like it’s done nothing but good here.”

He motioned me to come closer. “You wanna know something? This place ain’t the perfect little village it looks like.”

“How so?”

“The rules they got here. They got some strict rules, man. You get caught breaking them, you’re in a world of hurt.”

While it might be true that this place was conservative, no one here seemed to be terribly scarred or disfigured. Then again, we were also in an underground speakeasy that would not exactly earn the approval of the pious townspeople.

“Yeah, if you mess up so many times, they toss you over the fence and feed you to those things out there.”

“You don’t say.”

“I do say. I’m serious. They don’t bother with us folk down here, but they could if they wanted to. As long as we don’t get in the way, we don’t get fed to the wolves. Or the demons, whatever they are. Man, they are just
hungry.
”

It was obvious he was wasted. I grabbed his arm and got off my stool.

“It is getting late for me. Would you like to walk home?” He nodded and mumbled something. I took it for a yes and we walked out of the bar, although walking was a bit of an exaggeration for him. He staggered out and supported most of his weight on me. The doorman showed us out through a different door.

“Have a good night. Come again soon,” he said. I was sure he was looking forward to good tips, and I might be tempted to sneak here if I really needed a meal. Stray souls were much better than stray animals. We went down the streets with him singing. At this point, it had turned night and we were the only people walking down this street.

“Where do you live, Frank?” I asked.

“Place down the way,” he replied.

“Do you have a family? Where do they live?”

“Out there.”

“Where, outside the city?”

“They’re dead!” he blurted. “Every one of them is dead and walking out there somewhere.”

“I am so sorry. I did not mean to bring that up.”

“You know, I wish I could just walk out there and be with ‘em. That’s all I want is to be with them again. They can make me one of them and we can be together forever.”

“What they are, that’s not living. They’re just shells of who they used to be,” I tried to reason.

“I really tried, Miriam. I really did. They just came on us too fast and got you and the kids. And all I did was run like a coward! A filthy, stupid, stinking
coward
!”

I seized him and said, “Frank, get a grip on yourself!”

“Huh, what? What’s up with your teeth?”

I closed my mouth. “You really want to see your family?”

“I wanna…what? Yeah, I wanna see ‘em.”

“Come with me. Let’s go get you to your family.”

“Where are we going?”

“To your family. Where’s the quickest way to the wall? We’ll climb our way out.”

“Okay.” Drunkenness has a way to convince you that you are capable of great feats. These were great big walls with smooth surfaces. A sober, agile man could not climb them, but this drunk man thought he was up to the task.

We made our way closer to the wall until I found the small street that divided the last house from the wall. It was time to take my quarry to a discreet place where I could release him from his pain. Truly, I was doing him a favor, and all those around him who might have to put up with him. I stopped at the darkest place in the street, where I could see a little dimly but he could not see at all.