Happy Halloween

I wrote a Vampire story.

That is all.

Karma or Lack of Foresight?

When I woke I saw no moon only clouds so I got in my car and drove across the city. Perfect night for a stroll, I’ve seen a lot of nights so I know this one will be perfect. I left my car in an abandoned parking lot and started walking through the ghettos back towards home or wherever I end up.

I love walking among the urban jungles and their seedy underbellies. Some things over the years have changed but the basic fundamentals of society have not. The rich tread on the poor and the strong prey on the weak. The wealthy stay that way off the labor of others and the laborers stay comfortably dominated through home entertainment and other new gadgets. Here in the ghettos things are a bit rawer although not entirely different. There are the good and bad parts of a city and each section, rich or poor has its predators and one needs to know these things if you’re among them, or in my case, slightly above.

I turn a corner and see the familiar site of hoodlums gathering around a large barrel of fire with their “music” blasting out of some vehicle they own or stole. They notice me walking by and pretend not to care but I know what they saw, I recognize the look in their eyes and sure enough my hunch is correct as I see about four of them start to tail me. They’ve decided to rob me I know that much, but from the gang lingo and signs they’re giving off I’d say they’re working out whether to kill me or not. They’re not reaching for their firearms so I guess they’ve come to the conclusion that a gentleman like me would most likely be missed. I do happen to be well dressed, a black suit with a black tie and a bowler hat carrying a long black umbrella and a briefcase so it makes sense, and being white isn’t helping my case any so yes a sound beating will have to do for the likes of me.

They believe I don’t stand a chance against them. Let them believe. There is no reason that they can see why they should believe otherwise and that is the moment that believing transforms into knowing, I see it in their eyes and their grins, and it’s when one confuses belief with knowledge that the most fatal mistakes are made, not to mention the atrocities, but not tonight not for them. Tonight things play out differently. They see me stop and turn around so they too stop. We look at each other for quite some time it seems. They start to approach without a word slowly and confidently. Hoodlums dress very oddly now days. Back in my time you kept your clothing tight and simple so that in a brawl there was nothing to drag you down. But in this day and age image has taken the place of substance and the meek have inherited the earth. Fools have always preached the end times but this is the closest they’ve gotten yet. My attackers are dressed in miss matched baggy clothing with random bits of fake ridiculous jewelry. It’s very hard to be intimidated by them. Where I’m from it’s very hard to look intimidating when it appears that you can’t put a hat on properly. Oh well, my lithe and tall frame extends it’s long arms out before it in welcome and grinning I say..

“Hello Gentlemen! How can I be of service?”

All they do is snicker and rush me and I welcome them with my open arms as I am crushed by the weight of their first blows. They’ve surrounded me now, knocking me around from one to the other, and .. I welcome it. At one point I feel a couple of ribs crack from one of their knees and I take this opportunity to take something from the hoods pocket and palm it, after that I let them have their fun. The predatory beast inside my soul is screaming at me. It wants to finish them where they stand but I resist it. I could end them right now in so many colorful ways. I have done so many times in the past. But tonight will be different yes, tonight I play a new game. As the flesh and bones of my body rip and crack with every strike I can feel the beast in me howl louder and louder. No I say! You will still your wailing for now! If you do not remember that I’ve mastered you long ago this is your reminder!

At this point I realize the attack has stopped and they are rifling through my clothes. My body is broken and sprawled on the ground. I make sure to moan a bit and wheeze some shallow breathing so they don’t panic and think they’ve killed me. Too late for that I’m afraid my young friends, but I let them believe all the same. I let them “know”. They’ve taken my briefcase and my wallet. One of them is pissing on me, am I marked now I wonder?

After they have a chuckle they leave me shattered in the street hooting and hollering about their accomplishments.

I contemplate my current state for a while laying in the silence of the ally. It’s not often I get to be a victim so I think on the concept for a bit in my current state. In this time I let my breathe cease and just be the dead man I’ve been for over a hundred years. No pretending anymore as the first act of tonight’s macabre play is over and the intermission has begun. I can be myself again for a bit.

My body is dead but besides that there are minimal apparent changes to its structure. All the parts are there but most of them don’t work the way they used to and that’s alright because it doesn’t matter. The only thing that really changed was the blood. The one that made me the thing I am now did so by taking all of mine, and replaced it with hers. It happened the same way to her whenever she was made and again and again on and on back through history. It boggles my mind sometimes thinking of the source of what I am and all before me, the force driving my corpse and sustaining my intellect. Oh well, no one really knows where they’ve come from, not even my kind.

Even though I refill my supply of blood off of men and women and sometimes animals, the potency left in my veins by the one who made me is still very much there and grants me some unique merits. For instance, if my body has been damaged I can repair it, and with a simple thought I send that power flowing through my body. Bones and limbs snap back into place, my torn and bruised flesh mends and reforms itself and in less than half a minutes time, everything is what it once was. My clothes of course are in shambles. They left my hat and umbrella alone though I see. A spot of luck it seems.

I pick them both up off the ground and straighten myself out. The Beast, another thing left inside me by my maker, is not only howling for vengeance but for sustenance as well. The perks my blood holds are useful but using them somewhat diminishes the supply, I’ll need more. Where shall I get it?

I find in my sleeve the palmed item from one of my assailants. It’s a wallet, ahhh, just as I thought! Excellent. Let’s see what’s inside shall we?

Well look here I’ve found money. Fifty dollars. What else … a condom … some random cards for tattoo shops and what not. A phone number … mmmm … interesting and here we go … an ID … a student ID. Why the poor lad is still in school, or was. And a government ID as well. Why he’s only seventeen years young. Mr. Sean Coakley, very interesting indeed, having this is well worth what I gave up. What was in my wallet? Nothing but money, about three hundred dollars I reckon and nothing else. What’s the use of having anything else in your wallet when you’re as old as I am? Anyhow it was mostly bait as was the suitcase. The suitcase held a considerable amount more than the wallet, five thousand, seven?

They’ll have a ball with it I’m sure. In the mean time, lets go pay Mr. Coakley a visit.

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I’ve been standing outside the Coakley residence for a little over an hour and I’ve learned so very much. Sean it seems is a fake. The house is nice, upper middle class I would say. There is a nice car in the drive way and a swing set in the front yard. There’s even a good sized house for the dog, and there it is huddling inside it peering at me. It senses what I am and will not come out. I can smell its fear and see the little thing trembling. A purer breed of canine might have started barking trying to drive me away, “Back you foul unnatural thing! Get away from my territory!” but no not this one. Oh how times have changed.

I digress though. It’s time for Sean to learn a lesson about his lot. People, especially young people are very eager to take away from others not realizing what they have. It appears that Mrs. Coakely is the only one in the house tonight. I saw her through a window watching a movie on television looking ever so lonely.

I tell the Beast inside me that you need wait no longer for she will be the object of your affections. By the time we are through my pet, a new beginning will unfold for young Sean Coakley and many lessons shall be inflicted upon him. The mess we will make in this grand feeding will not only deprive our young friend of a parent, but the media will most likely reveal this young pups true identity to his street friends.

The pure lust emanating from my Beast fills me up and crashes over me in a wave of hunger and anticipation. That is my cue to let the second act begin and with that, I start walking up the walkway.

After a while just giving into desire isn’t enough, it must be a focused desire, and this new age we’re in gives me enough reasons to focus and inflict what I am upon humanity more than ever.

As I snap the lock on the door and open it a tune comes into my head, I believe it’s called ‘Puttin on the Ritz’ . I always liked that one. When she notices me I’m humming it, and it is shortly after that the screaming starts….

If you’re blue and you don’t know mm mm mmmm mmm …..