Vampire World (17 page)
Cobwebs
blanketed the narrow passageway and I was finding it hard to breathe as I
crawled forward. Eerie images of fangs surrounded by triangles were scattered
about, which must have stood for something but I had no idea what. A feeling of
unease developed. What was I doing in here anyway? I should have been with
Brett, not down in some hellhole.
All the same, I
pressed on. Before long the passageway grew larger and the light brighter,
allowing me to stand up and breathe easier. At this point, based on past
experience, I was almost expecting to find a note. I was not disappointed. A
folded sheet of paper was attached to the wall. My eyes ran over the page.
'Janice, I’m
proud that you are ready to discover the next secret of your existence. This
private train depot you are in is operated by an exclusive and dangerous
organization that you know little about, but that will change if you continue
to follow my lead. Walk a little further and you’ll come to one of the train
cars. I’ve set it up so it will take you to a place you must see. Get into the
car, being careful not to make any loud noises or sudden movements. The train
will automatically take you to your destination once you press the big red
button. This place will be disturbing, but whatever you do, don’t scream or
panic. Once you have seen it, get back in the train car and press the red
button again. It will take you back to where you started from. After that,
escape quickly. Good luck, Janice.'
I pushed on
until arriving at an enormous shaft that ran perpendicular to the tunnel I'd
just passed through. Sitting on a track was the train car my messenger had
written about. It appeared quite futuristic. Capable of holding only one
vampire, it had a glass door at the top that allowed me to slid down into a
leather seat. The red button was right in front of me. After securing the door
above my head I pressed this, at the same time wondering where the heck I was
being taken to.
The train set
off at an insane speed, rising up and down and twisting from side to side just
like I was on a roller coaster ride. Several other tracks leading off in
different directions flashed by, giving me the impression that there was a
large network of tunnels here.
After a few
degrees the car pulled up directly beside a shaft that led into darkness. I
quietly climbed out and moved along this. It was pitch black, making me feel
like I was in a nightmare. Where was I going? This could be some vile, sick
joke that was going to get me killed. I prayed not.
Eventually, a
door with a ruddy light flowing out of the bottom materialized ahead. I guessed
that this was it. I opened the mysterious door and stepped inside.
If my earlier
feelings of being in a nightmare had been just in the mind, what I saw now made
it become all too horrifyingly real. Dead vampires with decaying faces much
paler than mine were everywhere, standing upright in lines that went back as
far as I could see. They were precariously balanced on high rising shelves that
seemed to stretch up forever inside this wicked room. The smell was deplorable.
There must have been thousands of them.
With a rush of
revulsion, I then realized what was holding all these bodies in a vertical
position. Long silver stakes had been forced through every one of them,
starting from the groin and emerging out through the top of the head.
The room spun
madly. Desperately, I searched for the door but was too dazed to find it. I let
out a scream. A really loud, I’m-gonna-die kind of scream.
The scream was a
bit of a trigger, firing at least a small part of my brain back into action. I
somehow pulled myself together sufficiently to locate the door and rush back
through the tunnel to the train. Once inside this, my sweaty, quivering hands
stabbed at the button.
During the
terrifying ride back I told myself over and over that I would forget these wild
goose chases and concentrate on living happily ever after with Brett BloodCut.
Love was all that really mattered, right? The secret could wait. It could wait
until I was dead.
The car stopped
and I hurried on through the return tunnel. On my hands and knees I squeezed
through the tiny door, sweating heavily. I was back in the second level game
room, with the sound of fireballs banging against the rotating squares the only
thing I could hear. The door closed behind me, leaving no hint of its
existence. I checked to make sure no one had seen me emerge from behind the
gargoyle. It appeared that no one had.
It was late, and
I was exhausted. I probably stunk to high heaven as well. I glanced at the
squares, knowing that I really needed to practice if I was gonna stand a chance
of winning. And I desperately did want to win. But tonight, I was just too
tired to care. Resolving to make more time for practice later, I headed back
toward the first floor.
“Well, look who
decided to crawl out the gutter!”
I groaned but
said nothing. Of all the people I had to run into! It was Rob, together with
his little gang of idiots. He was dressed all in black with a lone 3-D skull on
his shirt. His scarlet hair seemed to be on fire, and when he laughed he
appeared to be high.
“Is your sewer
sleeping bum with you?” Rob pressed.
He giggled harder,
filling me with a rare rage. “Why did you vandalize my boyfriend’s house, son
of a blood bitch?” I screamed at him.
He laughed
again. “What makes you think I did that?”
He had to be on
something.
“Oh yeah…” Rob
snickered. “I remember now. I left a note.”
He jumped into
the air like he had wings, landing immediately in front of me. Gosh, how I
despised him!
“So where is
your lover boy hobo?” he said. “Answer me, bloodsucker.”
“You better stop
calling him that,” I yelled. “You may have Carns, but he’s got more than all of
your money could ever amount to. I love him. And I hate you.”
He continued
with his devilish laughing. “Are you high or something?” I asked.
“Hell yeah. I’m
a new man, Janice. Life is wonderful.”
I spotted
something striking on his forehead. Something that hadn't been there before. It
was a small tattoo of a triangle with a fang in the center. I gasped. This was
the same emblem I'd seen all over the tunnel wall right before I discovered the
bodies.
“I didn’t
appreciate your love rat calling the cops on me,” Rob said. “But I know some
important vampires. Lots of them. Cops can’t do anything to me.”
His friends
snarled behind him.
“Last chance,”
he said. “Are you sure you don’t want to date me? I could give you so much.”
I spat in his
face. “You leave my boyfriend and his family alone.”
He wiped away
the saliva. I expected him to come after me, but instead he just giggled. “I
should rip your head off,” he threatened. “But you’re lucky. I’m feeling good
right now.” He gawked hard at me. “So he’s really your boyfriend? You actually
went to the grave with that broke bloodsucker?”
He lusted over
me. He wanted my body. But there wasn’t a chance in hell.
“So you’re
trying to win the fireball tournament?” he said. “You’re gonna lose. You have
to go against me, duh! You know, I think we should duke it out right now.”
I was exhausted.
But I didn’t care. I wanted to see him fall flat on his pale ass. “Okay, it’s
on,” I told him.
“Good, just you
and me. Best out of three.”
We stepped onto
the nearest free square. As Rob’s friends congregated around I heard words like
bimbo, bloodsucker and bitch. But I honestly didn't care. I just wanted to beat
him.
Rob chuckled
when I grabbed the fireball and served first. I slammed it with all my might
into his square. But he intercepted it quickly and smacked it back so violently
that I didn't even see it. I just heard the sound of the ball bouncing against
my square, getting me out.
He laughed
loudly. “One down, one more to go!”
Frustrated, I
prepared for the next round. This time the square rose early, twisting around
and forcing us not only to focus on the ball, but our balance as well.
Rob was still
laughing when I hit the ball at him to start things off again. But an instant
later I was forced to hold on to my handlebar as the main square tilted sharply
in my direction. Rob banged the ball back, and like before, I barely caught a
sight of it. In a desperate attempt to make a return I took my hand off the
bar. Next thing I knew I was flying through the air. I landed on my back with
an excruciating thump. Gazing up at a smirking Rob, for the first time in quite
a while I felt both physically and spiritually defeated.
“Well, that was
easy,” he said. “It’s a shame you’re so pretty. Why don’t you wrap those pale
looking arms around my hot body.”
He stuck out his
hand to help me up. But I didn’t grab it. “I can manage without you,” I said,
gazing again at the emblem tattooed on his forehead.
His eyes bulged
with anger. “Fine, stupid bloodsucker.”
I remained there
on the floor, staring up at the ceiling and starting to feel like I did shortly
after getting out of the orphanage. I was exhausted and hurt.
I'm not sure how
long I stayed like that, but eventually I got together enough strength to stand
up. By then, Rob and his friends had vanished and nearly all of the squares
were empty. I'd suffered a hard lesson, and was really gonna have to practice
if I was to become a fireball champion. And I wanted that so much.
But not tonight.
Tonight, or what was left of it, I needed to spend sleeping in my coffin.
I didn’t feel
sad any longer by the time I arrived home, concentrating instead on the awesome
gifts in my life. But I was confused. Confused about all the dead bodies I'd
seen. And the tattoo on Rob’s forehead. Was there a connection between him and
the horror in the tunnel?
I settled down
in my coffin. Yet despite my fatigue, I still couldn’t sleep. I got back up and
peered out of the window, only to have my view of Mr. FreeCut’s quaint little backyard
once again blocked by the sight of my masked messenger.
Adrenaline
pumping, I dashed outside, not worried about waking Mr. FreeCut. But I was too
late again. My search for the creeper turned up nothing. I did, however, find a
box lying on the crumpled grass. It was pretty heavy for it size, and there was
a note fastened to the top. My eyes flashed across the worrying message.
'The
situation is quickly becoming dangerous. You need to defend yourself. Use the
contents in this box to do so. And remember, keep everything a secret.'
I tip-toed to my
room and opened the box. Inside were five silver stakes, together with a belt
to hold them all. My eyes burned as I looked at them - so much so that I had to
turn away. At the bottom of the box I also found a small circular mirror and
another note. This one read:
'These stakes
will come in handy against threatening vampires. While obviously causing wounds
and significant loss of blood, they also cause paralysis in the affected area.
Aim for the heart if you can. As for the mirror, you may notice something very
strange about it because it’s from a place you know well. That’s all I can
reveal for now. Good luck.'
I looked at the
mirror more closely. It was small and plain, but beautiful in its own way. I
held it up to my face and… oh gosh…
I couldn’t see
myself. I put the mirror down and cleaned it with a cloth. Then I looked again.
Nothing. I wanted to see my face so badly. What was wrong with this thing? This
had to be a really bad joke.
Deeply
concerned, I peered into the large mirror on the wall and sighed with relief
when I saw my reflection. But when I looked once more into the weird mirror,
I'd disappeared from existence again. I’d had enough of this for now, and slid
the mirror and stakes out of sight behind my coffin. I then lay down and fell
asleep, dreaming of Brett giving me a long and very loving kiss on the grave.
The next day at
work progressed well. All the time I was learning more about vampire fashions -
dresses soaked in blood, a shirt composed of tiny green skulls, blood-red sweat
pants with vampire fangs hanging from them - with each and every item I
discovered, the faster and better I was becoming at finding them.
At lunch I stuck
my Carn card in the machine. Yes! I grinned when it told me I had now saved
over 500 Carns.
It was time to
spend a little tonight on a couple of tattoos. One for me and one for Brett. I
couldn’t wait.
I called Brett
on the cell and asked how his family was doing.
“Everybody’s
good,” he said. “Got them into a decent hotel. What I’m worried about is the
price of my father’s pills. I think I can afford them. But damn, it’s gonna be
close.”
This made me
perky in a weird way, I guess because I now felt even better about treating
Brett to a tattoo. I knew girls were supposed to get pampered and spoiled by
their boyfriends like self absorbed blood queens. But why did it have to be
that way all the time? I could do what I wanted to do. And I was sure Brett
would be fine with it. Well, he’d better be.
During another
break I chatted on the phone with Kate. The party at her apartment was in two
days' time. Meanwhile, we'd been invited to another party tomorrow night at
Michael’s mansion. Two parties back-to-back. I felt pretty darn popular.
When I arrived
home, Mr. FreeCut prepared me a tasty snack of bloody fish and snackle eyes. I
told him my plans.
“Be careful,” he
warned. “Since I have a rare day off tomorrow, feel free to use the car.”
It felt good not
having to take the smelly train with all the horny vamp freaks on it. I was in
control tonight. Yes.
I put on a sexy
new ruby-colored shirt and tight dark pants. I was finally free of the baggy
granny pants! Don’t get me wrong. I loved the shirt Marsha had given to me, but
by now I'd worn it out too many times. I stared at my dazzling tube-like hair
and smiled.
I picked up
Brett from the nearby downtown hotel. I couldn’t wait to see him with his brand
new tattoo.
“So where are we
going?” he asked.
“You’ll see,” I
told him.
I knew exactly
where Bloodcut’s tattoo parlor was because I passed it every day while walking
to work. We stopped in front of the shop.
“You’re getting
a tattoo tonight,” I said. “And so am I.”
He laughed and
admitted he couldn’t afford one. I responded quite firmly that I was paying. He
hesitated, but I refused to back down.
We stepped
inside. Just like the hair parlor, it was a gloomy place. A buff vampire
covered with tattoos from head to foot handed us both a sales book.
I opened my book
and was confronted with hundreds of tattoos in all kinds of different shapes,
sizes and effects. 3-D live beating hearts. Plain beating hearts. Moving
dragons that covered the entire back. Three headed grotesque monsters with
iridescent eyes. Chains of many different shapes. The list went on and on.
The smaller,
plainer tattoos were the cheapest, which was probably the kind I would have to
settle for because I wasn’t rich by any means. I checked the price of the 3-D
eyeball with blood dripping from it. It was 800 Carns. Simple though sprawling
tattoos that covered entire arms, legs or backs started at 450 Carns. Add 3-D
together with extra detail and some motion effects and you could go as high as
a whopping 1,500 Carns. Damn!
Brett seemed
mesmerized as he read the book. I could tell he really wanted a tat. I just
hoped it was something in my price range.
“I’ve found the
one I want,” he announced.
He pointed to a
little green skull with fiery eyes. It glowed in the dark and cost 100 Carns.
“Sexy,” I said.
It didn’t take
me long to find mine - an amazing rosy-red tattoo bracelet with spikes that
wrapped around the arm. Very cool. It cost 200 Carns because blood dripped off
the spikes in a display of visual wizardry, so technically it moved even though
it was rather small. But I could afford it. You have to splurge sometimes in
life.
It didn’t hurt
that much when the tattoo artist stabbed and drilled with his needles.
A few degrees
later Brett and I had our much prized tats. My bracelet looked incredible. Even
though it was small, it added color and life to my arm. Brett’s skull complemented
his pale skin nicely as well.
“It looks
great,” I said.
As he
complimented me back, I fantasized about the grave. Hopefully, tonight it would
happen for real.
We drove over to
Michael’s party; I couldn’t wait to get there. Michael was rich, and I was
ready to impress his friends with my new hairstyle, tattoo and clothes. And
Brett of course.
Like April,
Michael lived inside one of the exclusive gated communities. When driving
closer, I saw several thirsty vampires slumped down beside the gate. This sorry
scene tugged at my heartstrings.
After receiving
permission to go inside, a line of grand mansions towered around us.
Michael’s house
turned out to be a five story monolithic residence that looked more like a dark
castle, especially with the red and black circular turrets jutting up around
the perimeter. Midway up these turrets were balconies crowded with merry
vampires partying, relaxing and drinking blood by the light of a sparkling
Garlic Moon.
A moat of
emerald liquid surrounded the house. As we crossed the drawbridge spanning this
I was reminded of my visit to Skull Library.
Eye candy
vampires packed the luxurious house. All were enjoying large glasses of blood.
The living room
was dark and expansive, decorated with moving statues of beasts with four eyes,
fangs and macabre skin. Brett led the way while we searched for our friends.
We spotted
Marsha first. She looked perfect in her golden boots with scarlet straps, not
to mention a glistening dress that had fake blood trickling from tiny pores in
the fabric. Her hair was braided with distinctive blazing tips.
“Oh, I love your
hair and new outfit!” she told me while sipping her blood.
April was stood
behind her. She gawked at my hair and new wardrobe while I marveled at her
pretty jade dress. With her hair teased up into an eye-catching animal style
and a necklace made of golden vampire fangs, she looked very beautiful. Not to
mention wealthy.
“I love your
shirt,” she said, surprising the heck out of me. Wow! Maybe she was just
shocked that I finally had some fashion sense. No matter what, it made me feel
good.
“Follow me to
the blood pot,” Marsha said.
We made our way
through a dense crowd and came to a giant pot simmering with hot blood. On a
table next to the pot were heavy mugs. We each took one of these and filled it
to the brim with the warm bubbling liquid. Gosh it tasted great.
“Warm blood
always tastes better than cold,” April said, once again surprising me by the
attention. She eyed my shirt. “That shirt is nice. I'd love to have one like
it.”
“We have some in
stock,” I said. “I could maybe get you a discount.”
She smiled.
“Thanks. You know, it takes me a while to warm up to new people. I hope you
understand that.”
I told her I
did, even though I really didn’t.
Moments later
Michael found us. He approached with a smile on his face and a cup of blood in
his hand.
His eyes were fixed on
me. Only me.
“You look swell,
girl!” he said, noticing my wardrobe and tattoo. Dressed in a shirt with a
moving 3-D head of a vampire biting forcefully with his fangs, he looked pretty
decent himself. His tattoos consisted of some really detailed serpentine
creatures that wound themselves around his arms and neck. If I'd not been with
Brett, I’d have let him hit on me. But that obviously wasn’t gonna happen. I squeezed
Brett’s smooth hand tightly.
“Hey Janice,
would you like to come see my room?” Michael said. “I have a gigantic 3-D lava
lamp. You'll love it.”
I sensed a storm
of jealousy building up inside Brett. Not only had Michael invited me to his
room, he'd also failed to include Brett in the invitation.
Noticing Brett’s
reaction, he quickly added: “Oh, don’t worry. You can come too.”
We both told him
thanks but no thanks.
The rest of the
night I met so many beautiful and wealthy vampires that I lost count. Quite a
few of them were surprisingly friendly to Brett and me, introducing themselves
and holding pleasant conversations. They invited us to more parties, which was
certainly exciting. However, others gave the not-so-friendly impression that
they were above us, and that my little tattoo and relatively cheap shirt were
no match for their lifelike body art and stimulating dresses. Sure, I wished I
could afford what they had, and I was going to get it eventually when I won the
fireball tournament. But as I hugged Brett, I knew in my heart that I already
had everything I wanted.
I felt wonderful
when leaving the party, and far from thirsty. I hoped that Brett and I would
now be heading for the graveyard. But I wasn't going to say anything. He needed
to be the one to take charge.
“You can drop me
off at the hotel, baby,” he said after we'd climbed into Mr. FreeCut's car.
That’s not what
I wanted to hear. Nevertheless, when we arrived at the hotel I kissed him
goodnight. I was sure he could sense from the way I kissed him that I was
disappointed, even though I didn’t say anything about what I really wanted.
I pulled up at
my house and tried not to feel glum. I wondered why Brett wouldn’t take the
leap. Was he scared? Did he really love me? Or was there another vampire?
I loved him;
there was no doubt about that. I just hoped he felt the same way about me.
Because the
garage door was locked, I parked Mr. FreeCut’s car in the driveway. As I walked
to the front door I heard a voice coming from behind. Turning around, I heard
it again. It sounded like someone was whispering my name.
I walked to the
street. “Hello?” I said.
An SUV appeared
out of nowhere and sped towards me. I attempted to run, but someone grabbed me
from behind. Two more figures dressed in what looked like ninja suits jumped
out and together the three of them bundled me inside the vehicle. I tried to
scream, but a hand clamped over my mouth.