by Ian Hall
“Of course he is.” Valérie began to sob. “I’m sorry what I just did to you, Donny, but that poor girl along the hallway will be awake for hours. Her end is predictable, and he’ll demand her supplication.”
Valérie got up and sat on the side of the bed.
“The vampire hierarchy is fatally flawed, Donny. And I’m not the only one who has noticed. In the world of mortal men, men like Amos are a dying breed. Their leadership changes; survival of the fittest. But here, it is survival of the oldest, whether fit to rule or not.”
“Because we’re immortal, of course.”
We both grinned. I had learned a valuable lesson, but I felt no nearer to knowing my mission.
I took my share of him and in my own time. Giving nothing back. By the time I relented, heaving and drained, Donny’s hatred of me showed, blatantly evident in his expression. Good.
“The vampire hierarchy is fatally flawed, Donny. And I’m not the only one who has noticed. In the world of mortal men, men like Amos are a dying breed. Their leadership changes; survival of the fittest. But here, it is survival of the oldest, whether fit to rule or not.”
Donny made some smirky, smartass remark.
“I may not be able to kill Amos Blanche; but if I’m successful his influence will die even if he lives to the end of time.”
Donny, still naked, got up from the bed, crossed the room and lit two cigarettes. The first he offered to me. I took it eagerly, letting the smoke sweep into my lungs with a pleasing burn. Just like I’d done with Donny, I took my time to enjoy the physical sensation.
I noticed how he watched my breasts as my lungs expanded. Perhaps my new acquisition wasn’t nearly as disgusted in me as I’d first believed. Composed and almost callous, Donny didn’t bother to hide his valuation of me; though he kept any approval closely guarded. He wasn’t a whelp, whining for a bone. Donny seemed to be a man who knew how to be one.
False lust took a turn toward genuine admiration. I began to see Donny Kelp in a new light. Perhaps the first potential rival to Amos’ dominion I’d ever come across. The man I’d been looking for.
His next words proved me right, “What is it that you want from me, Valérie?”
Valérie dressed quickly. “First of all, I want you to realize that being a vampire isn’t just about sex and greed.”
I nodded.
“I need you to acknowledge that there is another way, a higher calling to our place on this earth.”
I nodded again. “I had wondered about that. I mean, where does God come into this?”
She gave me an awkward look, then shook her head. “We need to change your name.” Valérie had dressed, and I still felt kind of numb after her sex attack. “I mean, what the hell kind of name is Donny?”
“Short for Donovan.”
“Never heard of it. Sorry, you’re going to be re-invented.”
I shook my head. “Why do you have to change my name?”
“Because you’re going away for a while.” Valérie began to pace the room.
“What about my mission; my task?”
Valérie’s expression changed. I’d glimpsed a thoughtful side to her now, a calculating side I hadn’t seen before. “You, my dear, were going to be Amos’s step up in the world. You know Tracy Kennedy? It’s my job to train you to turn her, bring her into the vampire fold. That’s your mission. You were to take your place at her father’s side. That would enable Amos’s rise into the political arena; as if he doesn’t have enough power already.”
She pulled her long boots on. “But if I have my way, he’ll never get to dip his toe into government. I have a few phone calls to make. I have a new identity to engineer, and you have to go into hiding for a few years.”
“Years? What about my family?”
“Say your goodbyes. If you stay here, under his power, Amos will tear them limb from limb just to keep you on your toes. It’s his way. Your disappearance will be their saving grace. He hand-picked you, Donny; either you leave the state, or I’ve got to organize a tragic accident for Tracy Kennedy. Amos is not getting into the fucking White House.”
“How will I live?” I asked. I sat on a full-ride scholarship to Penn State; other than that- not a dime to my name. She expected me to walk away from the life I’d been building for myself, that’s bad enough, but to do it empty handed?
“I can arrange whatever you need; don’t worry- you’ll want for nothing. But you need to leave soon, to set this in motion.”
“Not quite that easy, Valérie. There are some things we’re going to have to discuss before I go anything.”
For a split second, I thought I’d have another encounter with Valérie’s back hand. Instead, she folded her arms and gave me an “I’m listening” glare.
Shit. It already felt cold outside, and the first sprinklings of snow drifted through Pennsylvania; nineteen-fifty-nine would be an interesting year.
Turns out my apprentice seemed nowhere near as free and easy as he’d appeared from the outside. Donny Kelp refused to assume his new identity and new life before a few conditions were met. First and foremost: his mother and younger sister needed to be made safe from Amos Blanche and his crusade.
The drive from Penn State to his squalid home town, Oak Peak, should only have been forty minutes under optimal conditions. However, conditions were far from optimal. The first heavy snow fall of the year had gained momentum. Roads were slick, visibility next to nothing. Donny drove at a snail’s pace, still under the assumption that skidding off the road and down the embankment could end his fragile life. He hadn’t yet come to terms with immortality.
I just let him drive. I’d always hated the winter and to think I’d live through hundreds-possibly thousands- more of them made me envious of the humans’ short life span. Once I’d broke free of Amos Blanche’s rule, I’d move on to warmer climate; a land of perpetual summer.
Throughout our prolonged expedition cross-state, Donny illuminated me on his personal history. I guess he labored under the impression I cared.
“…after my father died, my mother had to get out and work for the first time in her life; had to get two jobs just to make ends meet. Cassie was only three and I was thirteen, so I spent pretty much every waking minute taking care of her. I was more of a dad to her than a brother. Poor kid flipped out when I went off to university…”
I nodded my head every once in a while out of sheer politeness, though I only absorbed about half his saga.
“So, if I’m going to do this- I need your word, Valérie.”
I got shaken out of my stupor by the mention of my name, “Hmm? What’s that?”
“I need your word that they’ll be taken care of: financially and whatever else. I want my mom and sister set up good—set for life. You’ve got the resources, right?”
I’d been clutching a canvas bag filled with stacks of twenties; last count it amounted to nearly a hundred-grand. Just some walking-around money. One thing about being over a hundred years old: you had something to show for it. A drop in the bucket for me, but it would do more than appease a single mother, scratching to get by.
“Your family will be well provided for,” I told him, un-cinching the drawstring to the canvas bag. Donny’s eyes became round with awe, “As long as I have your word that you’ll do exactly as I say from here on out.”
Donny pulled up a long driveway, the cement pitted from wear, to a stucco ranch-style that hadn’t seen a new coat of paint or had its gutters cleaned in far too long. The sight of that house gave me an insight to Donny Kelp that his hour-long monolog never could have; no wonder the guy fucked everything in sight and smoked like a chimney. For Donny, college had proved both his vacation, and an escape route; a four-year-long sabbatical from playing “man of the house”.
Maybe that’s why he didn’t put up too big of a fight. I’d claimed Donny Kelp as my ticket out, and maybe I was his.
Soon as we walked through the door, a young girl with brown pigtails bounced up and threw
herself into Donny’s arms. His mother, looking weatherworn, rose heavily from an olive green sofa and came to greet him as well.
Before she got two feet from me, I caught a whiff of sourness vaporing off her skin- ill, very ill; some sort of cancer. By the look on Donny’s face I knew he smelled it too. I could only hope his inexperienced senses wouldn’t identify the source of the strange odor or I’d never be able to pull him out of that house while his family still lived.
The journey north proved terrible. I hate driving, but worse than that, I hate silent passengers. The snow made for bad conditions, and I knew my tires were not good. I felt the car shift me feet so many times, I’m sure we half skated to Oak Peak, rather than drove.
Valérie didn’t help. She sat quiet for most of the journey, when I could have done with a bit of encouragement. A bit of ‘you’re-doing-the-right-thing’; a pat on the back.
I felt so nervous, I started to blab my life history, my hopes and fears, but I’m not sure she heard me. Or if she heard my words, they never passed into her conscious thoughts.
After too many hmm’s and yeah’s, I decided that I wanted something more tangible. I mean, I wasn’t going to get a written contract or anything, but I wanted some assurance.
“I need your word that they’ll be taken care of: financially and whatever else. I want my mom and sister set up good—set for life. You’ve got the resources, right?”
Valérie said and did nothing for a very long moment, then she began to open a bag on her lap.
“Your family will be well provided for.” She said, inclining the opening of the bag towards me. Inside lay the biggest pile of money I’d ever seen. I shifted my eyes quickly back to the road. There seemed no point in being killed, so close to my family being rich. “As long as I have your word that you’ll do exactly as I say from here on out.”
“No problem, Valérie. I just need them cared for, you understand?”
She nodded her head as the first sign of Oak Peak appeared in the salt-streaked windscreen. “You’ll be safe underground and your mother and sister will be fine.”
I drove the last few miles in silence. I had my new ID in my back pocket; I hadn’t even looked at the thing. Valérie had meant it to be the key to my new life, but I had problems shaking off the old one.
All the reassurances or money in the world couldn’t have prepared me for the wall of stench that hit me when I walked through the door. The house stank of rotting meat, coming from everywhere. I couldn’t pinpoint the source.
Bubbling through the air of death, Cassie fussed her exuberant self, and suddenly the thought of not seeing her again, made me doubt my commitment to Valérie’s plan.
I kept a mantra going through my mind as they exchanged pleasantries; ‘Mom’s dying, the money will set Cass up for life’.
“I’m Darlene,” Donny’s mom introduced, extending a shriveled hand out to me.
“Valérie.”
“Is that your girlfriend?” The girl, still clutching her brother round the neck, asked with a curious glance to me.
“Mind your manners, Cass.”
I’d never seen the devil-may-care Donny so uncomfortable; I decided to make the most of it. With a wink and a smile, “I don’t mind, hon.”
The child giggled and wriggled down from Donny’s hold, coming closer to inspect me. Human children were so fearless; I instantly took a shine to little Cassie Kelp.
“Are you staying for supper?” Darlene asked, emphasizing every other word with a cough. The cancer sat in her lungs; by the smell of smoke trapped in the walls it came as no surprise.
“Actually, Mom, I can’t stay long,” Donny started to tear up; I sat still for a moment, thinking I’d lost him, “There’s something very important I need to talk to you about. Cassie… go wait in your room for a few minutes…”
Reluctantly, his sister grabbed a collection of dolls from the coffee table and trotted off down the hall. We all seated ourselves around the smelly living room. Before Donny could back out of our deal, I decided to appeal to his protective nature and his mother’s greed, dumping the mountain of cash out where the Barbie dolls had been moments ago.
Darlene’s eyes widened and her cough picked up along with her pulse, “What’s all this?”
“I have to leave town for a while, Mom… this money is for you and Cass- to take care of you while I’m gone.”
“H-how long?”
He looked at me, I nodded imperceptivity as possible- my deal had been proposed as a lifetime commitment, sure to outlive both mother and sister. Far as I felt concerned, nothing had changed.
“I don’t know for sure, Mom. Quite a while.” Donny picked up a rubber-banded stack and handed it to his mother, “But, you’ll have this…”
“Bit lot of good that’s gonna do me when I’m in the ground,” she threw it back on the pile with the rest, “I’m dying, Donny… and we’re not talking years. It’s months at the outside. You need to come back home and look after Cass before I get to the point where I can’t.”
Donny had made the connection between the odor and his mother’s health. I could see it register in his eyes.
“I don’t know how you came across this money, Son,” Darlene’s tone sounded brutal with judgment, “But, this house serves Jesus, and whatever deeds brought you that worldly wealth… I just pray they haven’t cost you your soul.”
Mrs. Kelp’s condemnation of Donny’s gift might as well have been a wooden stake. He trembled; I mean, a vampire, trembling. I took one final leap of faith that I hadn’t picked the wrong successor to Amos Blanche’s throne.
“It’s not like that,” I cut in, “Donny hasn’t broken any laws or done anything immoral, Darlene. In fact- it’s just the opposite; your son is embarking on a mission of good. If he’s successful, many souls will be saved- including his own… and maybe even mine.”
My words left the woman cold as stone, “All I know is I might not live to see Christmas morning and you’ve got a ten year old sister that needs looking after. No amount of money in the world’s gonna change either of those facts."
The doorbell rang, and Cassie came bounding into the hall. “I’ll get it!”
“Right, honey.” Darlene smiled at the retreating figure. “You have to protect her, son. In a couple of months, you’ll be all she has left.”
Darlene broke off into a coughing fit so violent I never heard him approach. I turned to the door just as Amos Blanche walked through.
“Don’t even think about it, Valérie.” His words cut across the room like a scythe.
I’m not sure what she’d had in mind, but she sure stopped in her tracks.
“And all this cash lying around.” Amos walked into the living room, the two familiar football jocks close behind him. “You’d think people would be more careful with their valuables.” He flipped a couple of the bundles. “This your whole life savings, Valérie?”
She shook her head.
“Tell him to stand still and say nothing.” Amos said. “Tell him.”
Valérie reluctantly turned to me. “Stand still, Donny. Say nothing.”
I wasn’t sure exactly what to do, but when Amos took Cassie under his arm, I went for him. Well, my thoughts went for him. I stood exactly as still as before, while my mind raced across the room to my sister’s defense.
“Such a nice child.” He crouched low, running his hands over her shoulders, her sides.
NO! I screamed, but of course, I’d already been silenced.
“Such a pity that I like my girls with more … juice.”
With a twist of his hands, he twisted her neck painfully to the side. Then leant to her and drank deeply from her extended throat.
My mother screamed, throwing herself at Amos. His henchmen intervened; holding her, maliciously, just inches away from Cassie’s dying eyes.
Amos rose from Cassie’s limp frame, and let her fall to the floor. He nodded to the jocks, who both tore into my mother like ravenous wolves.
“I don’t eat rancid flesh,” Amos sneered. “But she’ll do for these two.”
I stood in silence, as my head protested so much I thought it would burst.
“Run, Donny.” Valérie said.
I felt the shackles suddenly leave me, but to my surprise, run seemed to be the last thing on my mind. I grabbed a large brass cross from the dinner table and took a step towards Amos.
The jocks had placed themselves between me and Amos, but they needn’t have bothered.
Clutching the cross as an axe, I felt change wash over my immortal skin. Light shone on me- or maybe through me. I stopped in my tracks. Rage turned to calm, almost as if an invisible cloak enveloped me. All my life, I’d rebelled against my mother’s beliefs; now standing, cross in hand, I felt as small as I’d ever been.
And yet larger than Amos and his minions put together.
I watched Donny’s transformation; it happened in the twinkling of an eye. The rage that had suffused him dissipated like mist. He looked down at the crucifix in his hand as if the little figure of the man nailed to it had animated and spoke directly to him.
“You didn’t pick me,” Donny said to Amos Blanche, a wild, fearless smile overtaking his expression, “He did.”
Donny laid the cross down atop the pile of money his mother had so fervently rejected. Without so much as a glance to me or his fallen family members, he held his arms out to Amos as if waiting for shackles.
“There’s nothing you can do to me now, Amos Blanche,” he said, “in taking their lives, you’ve left me no reason to fear death. And you can be sure of one thing: I will never be like you, I will never take a human life and I will never do your bidding.”
Like Jesus being led to His crucifixion, Donny surrendered himself peacefully to the guards barring him from Amos Blanche. Even knowing the fate that awaited me in Amos’ torture chamber, I smiled as I watched him go.
Donny Kelp had gone off to die; I only hoped that the new identity in his pocket, Jackson Cole, would one day rise up in his place.