“We promise. And see you in three hours,” replied Carl, as he and Brian shook Buck’s hand, wishing him good luck, before leaving his cabin with their small flashlights in hand and heading back out the trail and to their truck.
“Let’s get to the store and see what Phyllis was able to pry from Dietrich,” said Brian. “Dietrich should be gone by the time we get there.”
“Let’s hope he is anyways,” replied Carl. “But just in case he’s not, I have both our rifles loaded to the max if we need them. If it works out somehow that bullets don’t kill him, we’ll at least give him a bad case of lead poisoning. And if he kills us instead, then it will have to be Buck’s responsibility to stop him tonight.”
CHAPTER 10
6:00 PM
Dietrich walked into the store, locked the door behind him, and turned off the neon-lighted sign as he proceeded to walk over to the counter, where Phyllis was waiting. “I heard that you’ve had a willing change of heart,” he said. “This better not be some crazy game that you’re trying to play with me, Phyllis. But, then again, what difference would it make? No one can stop me from accomplishing my mission.”
“It’s no game, I swear,” answered Phyllis. “I will willingly go away with you, but first, I want to ask of you a favor that I hope you will give to me.” 1 m listening.
“Please don’t turn me into a vampire here in Circa, where I will have to feed on the blood of my friends. But instead, take me away from this place and turn me in a different location, and let my first drink of blood be from an animal, not a human.”
“Phyllis, Phyllis, Phyllis, you’re a girl who always thinks of her friends and others before yourself,” answered Dietrich. “You’re an amazing human woman, Phyllis! You’ll make a fantastic mate and vampire, who will, in time, think much differently about your human friends. Very well then, I will grant you your wish.”
“Thank you!” responded Phyllis with relief. “Dietrich, would you mind if I ask you some questions about my future in the vampire life and my new life with you? I would like to begin preparing myself psychologically to be a good mate for you, and would like to know what the vampire life will be like for me.” She was playing her spy role perfectly, as she seemed to be enticing Dietrich into trusting her, which was also made easier because of his arrogance.
“Excellent!” answered Dietrich. “I will answer those questions that I think are suitable, and I don’t have much else to do at this time or before 9:00 PM anyhow.”
“How will you change me? Will I have to die first and come back from the dead, like what happens in some of the vampire movies? And what can I expect from my early days of being a vampire?” asked Phyllis.
“Believe me, Phyllis, when I tell you that it will be very painless for you, as I’ll only need to puncture your skin and veins with my fangs, which will transfer my fast-acting curse to you when my saliva enters your bloodstream. You will immediately fade into unconsciousness for five or more minutes after, when the curse overwhelms your white blood cells and completely changes and enhances your DNA, but you won’t die. Upon awakening, you will no longer be human, nor ever again, but will instead be an ageless vampire with instant supernatural powers, like enhanced speed, strength, senses, and even unnatural healing abilities. But you will have up to thirty-six hours to drink your first blood, or you’ll weaken, feel ill, and die,” Dietrich explained.
“I can die when I’m a vampire?” she asked him.
“There are a few ways that a vampire could die, but your first immediate and most serious threat is if you are unable to acquire a blood supply to feed upon,” answered Dietrich. “But trust me, that should not be a concern for you, for I will have blood waiting for you. Drinking blood will keep you alive, supernaturally strong, and nourish you, allowing you to also retain your youthful appearance and beauty for as many centuries as you roam the Earth! The more blood that you drink, the longer it will remain in your system or body before requiring more blood to feed upon again, and the more years that pass you by as a vampire, the stronger you will become.”
Phyllis thought briefly about how lonely and cruel a life that would be for her if she had to outlive her family and friends for hundreds of years, while also enduring a cold and brutal lifestyle that relied upon the blood of innocent victims for her survival. It sounded repulsive, and would be torture for her, and she was determined to accept death over the vampire life. She forced another fake smile on her face and continued to ask Dietrich more questions. “What about going out in the sunlight? Will I still be able to enjoy the sun, as you can?”
“I’m afraid, my poor Phyllis, that only I can go out in the sunlight, because of my superior supernatural genetics, age, and unlimited power. Even so, I still don’t enjoy the sunlight. You, on the other hand, will only be able to go out at night, or you’ll quickly burn up. An important reason as to why I need to remove you from Alaska before its endless summer daylight arrives! Even I require much more blood in the summer than normal, to aid in defeating the sun’s power over us. As you age over the centuries, you’ll become more powerful and will eventually adapt to sunlight, but for your first hundred years, stay indoors! Oh, and there is also one last problem that you will encounter as a vampire, and will find very annoying,” said Dietrich. “You will not be able to enter into any house, or even an empty building, unless it is abandoned and been in existence for a period of at least a hundred years, or without first being invited in, which is why I had to ask you for permission to enter the store upon my first arrival.”
That statement from Dietrich sealed it for Phyllis in her mind. She knew for sure that she would put a gun to her head and kill herself if he couldn’t be stopped, rather than live a life in darkness, unable to feel the sun’s warmth on her face again. And if only she had known at that time not to invite Dietrich into the store, Ron might still be alive. “I remember back in August hearing of a teen girl from Hublick who was found dead, drained of all her blood,” she said. “Did you kill her?”
“An unfortunate victim who happened to wander in the wrong place at the wrong time,” answered Dietrich. “She was easy to spot with a full moon out that night. I was actually after a rather large wolf on that night to feed upon instead, and just had begun to secure it and penetrate its lower back with my fangs, but the wolf somehow managed to free itself from my grasp when it caught me by surprise, after it turned and bit me in the face at the same time that I clumsily slipped on some loose rocks, or else it would have never escaped.”
Phyllis gasped. She now knew that Dietrich was unknowingly responsible for Buck’s werewolf.
“No human or animal has ever escaped me before that night, and when the wolf escaped, I gladly fed on that girl instead, drinking all of her blood, which quickly killed her!” exclaimed Dietrich. “I’d much prefer to feed on humans over animals, as human blood is far more satisfying and replenishing, supplying vampires with much more power. But feeding on too many humans in certain areas attracts too much unwanted attention from your so-called police.”
“Is that why you live near the villages, to hideout better?” asked Phyllis.
“Now you’re beginning to understand,” Dietrich said. “If a human body is found dead and drained of blood near Fairville, or in a large city like Anchor town, every detective or federal agent in the state will be investigating them, even with the death of the homeless humans who live on the street. An unfortunate problem in today’s world, with all its technology, making killing humans much more difficult than a century ago! But I, instead, move from village to village in remote places, intending to keep a low profile by feeding on animals or humans, who can be easily dumped into a river like the Yukon and made to disappear. The police don’t seem to care as much about missing person reports from the villages, leaving me with more freedom to roam and feed at will.”
“You’ve been so helpful to me in answering these questions,” replied the disgusted Phyllis, while trying to force a fake and fractured smile. “If I can just
ask a few more questions, I’ll feel satisfied. Why do you need a full moon in order to change me into a vampire?”
“My twin brother Titus and I were born on the night of a full moon, and we also became the very first vampires, two years later, on the night of a full moon, so neither he nor I can create new vampire life without the full moon’s rays,” Dietrich replied. “If I tried to transform you without the full moon, you would remain human for my bite and saliva would have no supernatural power to create new vampire life.”
“You have a twin brother?” asked the stunned Phyllis. “Oh please, can you tell me your story and how you came to be, and how old you are? Do you have a mother and father? I have to know!”
“You are so full of life and vigor, Phyllis! So many questions being asked by you, which surprises me to some extent. I will tell you the story, but then I must leave for a short time and search for animal blood to drink and strengthen myself with before 9:00 PM. When I complete your transition into a vampire, the process will weaken me somewhat and rob me of some vitality.”
Phyllis made a mental note to herself of Dietrich’s most recent revelation, storing it away in her memory, that he would become weakened soon after turning her, possibly making him the most vulnerable to an attack during that time.
“Titus and I were born in Israel, at around 1,000 BC, making our ages approximately 3,000 years,” said Dietrich.
“Oh my goodness,” gasped Phyllis in stunned amazement. “That sounds like somewhere around the time of the Old Testament.”
“Or, as you might have heard about when you were a child, the time of David and Goliath,” Dietrich confirmed.
Phyllis nearly passed out when she heard his age, feeling overwhelmed and unable to comprehend the length of time that he had been wandering the Earth, but she quickly gathered herself. “Please continue,” she said, dazed but wanting to hear more.
“Our mother was a harlot for the Philistine army and our father was the ten-foot tall giant whom you have heard of as Goliath of Gath, the so-called champion of the Philistine army!” said Dietrich.
“Goliath was your father? Are you serious? Gath?” asked Phyllis with a look of surprise on her face.
“Gath was one of five royal cities in Israel during that time period, which was under the control of the Philistines,” he went on to say. “When our mother realized that she had life in her womb and would no longer be of use to the Philistine army, she fled, fearing for her life, and went into hiding, where she raised us for two years. After our births on a full moon night, our harlot mother soon figured out very quickly that we weren’t normal babies. Titus was the firstborn, and had six fingers and toes, as did our father, but I was more normal in appearance, born thirty minutes after. We were both far stronger, aggressive, and more dangerous than normal for two-year-old children, with Titus being slightly stronger than myself, but both of us apparently inheriting our father’s DNA and genes from the pit of Hell! Titus was even strong enough to kill the neighbor’s pet dog with several blows at two years old.”
Phyllis could hardly believe what she was hearing, but was so intrigued by his story that she wanted to hear more, despite how evil and dangerous Dietrich was.
He continued on with telling Phyllis about his youth and history. “When we were two and half years old, our father, Goliath, came across our mother by chance and killed her in a fit of rage, breaking her neck after he learned about us, and for her fleeing two years earlier. Goliath’s rage didn’t end there, as he abducted Titus and me, dumping and abandoning us into a wilderness cave to die a slow death.”
Phyllis was horrified and even began to pity Dietrich when she heard of his brutal childhood.
“But instead of us dying as our father had thought or wanted, we became supernatural beings that first night in the cave, a night of a full moon, when we were bitten multiple times by the vampire bats inhabiting the cave. The infected and diseased saliva from the bats mixed perfectly with our inherited Hell’s genes, turning us into the very first species of our kind, vampires!” said Dietrich.
“Wow!” responded Phyllis. “What do you mean by saying that ‘Hell’s genes’ or ‘genes from the pit of Hell’ as the possible reason why you both could only be changed into vampires and no one else?”
“Titus and I never knew who our grandfather was, but we both speculated that Goliath’s father was a fallen angel, kicked out from Heaven based on rumors and hearsay during that time period, which is only pure speculation from us, but made sense to us, given our father’s enormous size and our supernatural abilities.”
“Please continue,” said the intrigued Phyllis.
“Even though we were only two and a half years of age, we were now vampires with supernatural power and speed, enough speed to catch the rats, snakes, and bats of the cave, making their blood our food supply instead. Their blood enhanced our power and abilities twofold, which also helped us age to adulthood in just three weeks, ranking us as the top predator on the food chain.”
“Are you saying that you grew to an adult in three weeks, from two and a half years old to looking like you’re thirty years old just from feeding on animal blood?” asked Phyllis with shock.
“That is quite correct, but after we rapidly grew to adulthood, we had to leave the cave for larger blood sources, like humans and cattle or sheep,” answered Dietrich.
“How were you able to learn languages?” she asked him. “Did you have to take schooling to learn them?”
“Titus and I are able to instantly learn what humans know by merely drinking their bodies completely dry of their blood,” Dietrich explained. “The very first human we fed on and killed was a teacher, and by doing so, we learned what she knew, both her language and everything about her life. The human blood was euphoric for both of us, as it will also be for you, much more than with animal blood, and we then knew, after we killed her, where her family and students were, which also allowed us to stalk them, hunt them down, and kill them.”
Phyllis was now very concerned if Dietrich had learned about Buck after drinking Ron’s blood. “What did you learn from Ron when you drank his blood?” she asked with concern.
“If you remember, I didn’t drink all of his blood, only five seconds’ worth,” he answered with a small, sinister chuckle. “Whatever minute pieces from his memory that I caught was only about you. I got the sense that he loved you!”
Phyllis felt disgusted with Dietrich and hated him, but knew she needed to learn more if she could. “Please, do you have any more information to your very interesting story?”
“Titus and I stayed together for five years after becoming vampires, hunting and killing humans, until the Israeli army came to learn of our existence and began searching for us while trying unsuccessfully to kill us! We decided that the best action to take at that time, which would help hide our existence and preserve our species, was to separate from each other. Since that time, Titus has roamed and hunted humans in the Eastern Hemisphere, while I migrated to, and have mostly roamed and hunted humans, in the Western Hemisphere. Although Titus and I are thousands of miles apart, because we are supernatural twins, we still have a connection, a bond, with each other and will forever be interlinked.”
“What did you just say?” asked Phyllis with alarm. “Titus and you are interlinked?”
“If something were to happen to one of us, the other brother would feel and know it within twenty-four hours, even sensing each other’s locations,” he replied.
This was devastating news for Phyllis, as she now just learned that if they were able to kill Dietrich, Titus would soon realize it and possibly retaliate. “You just stated that if something happened to you, Titus would know. What could happen to you?” she cleverly asked Dietrich. “What will happen to me if you turn me into a vampire and you died, if that’s possible?” This was the moment of the conversation that Phyllis had been working so hard to achieve. She would finally be able to possibly learn from him of his fatal flaw, for both him and possibly
Titus also.
“If I were to die, Titus would most likely send some of his vampire minions over to force you into joining with him on his side of the continent,” he answered.
“Minions?” she asked. “Titus has minions?”
“Minions are vampires who were created by Titus or me, and who are in servitude to us, much like you will become tonight. Titus doesn’t like the thought of new vampires, especially recently turned vampires, roaming free and on their own, without restrictions or guidance, and neither do I, which is one reason why I haven’t had my own minions in fifty years. New vampires who are left unattended are as a ship without a rudder, and could create far too much risk in exposing our existence, especially if bloodthirsty, impulsive, careless, or reckless vampires were allowed to do as they please, or kill as much as they wanted, without realizing the possible ramifications. Titus would have you killed if you were out of control or unwilling to join as one of his minions. And as far as my fatality is concerned...” Dietrich didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence, the most important information that Phyllis needed, because a vehicle drove slowly into the parking lot of the store and parked near the old wood shed, on the far end of the lot. “Those two again!” the vampire said with an angry tone. “Why are they here? I warned him not to interfere, and now my patience has worn thin!”
CHAPTER 11
7:00 PM
“I think that I’ll go outside and have a chat with your two friends, and since they’re here, I won’t need to search for animal blood now. I’ll drink the blood of Brian instead, kill him, and then save his friend for you to drink and kill tonight,” declared the furious Dietrich.
Phyllis protested vehemently to Dietrich, trying to persuade him not to hurt Brian and Carl. “You promised that you wouldn’t hurt anyone if I stayed in the store, and I’ve stayed here, as you demanded. Please don’t harm them!” she begged.
Village of the Full Moon Curse Page 9