by Slay (epub)
Then, he saw behind them, out of Agatha’s sight, a dark figure walking toward them.
“Agatha,” he cried out. “It’s a crazy colored man. He’s right behind us. Please look.” He took her hand and turned her to face the approaching menace.
The dark figure was hard to make out in the night, but it continued to approach them. Agatha pulled Timothy along. Her eyes focused forward.
“One illusion at a time. Let’s see what you saw over here first, and then we can look for the other man.”
Timothy pulled her arm, but instead of going with him she stopped walking altogether.
Timothy fell down when she yanked her hand from him. “Agatha please. You must come.” Timothy crawled backwards on his hands. “Oh God. He is right behind you.”
Agatha crossed her arms as she slowly turned around. “Who is behind me?”
As she turned around, she was greeted by a tall Black man with a wide grin and bright white teeth. The Black man raised his hand revealing his long fingernails and strong claw like hands.
“Don’t scream.” The Black man thrust his claw hand under Agatha’s chin stabbing through her jaw. He gripped her entire head as he raised her from the ground. He lifted her close to his face. “I want to suck your blood.”
Agatha shivered as she felt the pain of the long claws in her neck. The terror cut through her spine in the man’s grip.
Frozen in place, Timothy gasped when he watched the Black man open his jaw and bit down into Agatha’s neck.
When he lifted his head, mouth stained red with blood, he growled to Timothy. “Run.”
Timothy scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could. The image of his lover’s bleeding neck fresh in his mind, he had no idea where he fled. The dense trees disoriented him, and soon he was out of range of the mansion.
Ahead, Timothy saw a clearing within his reach. Once he got there, the Black man appeared, cutting off his path. Timothy tried to stop his run and tripped over his nervous feet.
“Oh, please Mr. Negro sir. Whatever is your rage, killing will not quench your bloodlust.” Timothy begged.
The Black man leaned over and put his knee on Timothy’s neck and spoke in a deep voice. “Oh, your blood is all that I crave, and you’ve sweetened it ever so nicely with your fear.”
Unable to vocalize a second plea, Timothy released a silent scream as the Black man sunk his large teeth into him, sucking his blood.
The Temple room was packed as the chairman called the assembly to order. Lord Edgefield sat by himself while the other people were in a semicircle across from him. The room had wood walls and columns with high ceilings. The large overlapping V symbol of the Vamp Phi Vamp society was in the center of the floor. The windows were high above and did not allow the light to shine down on the floor.
There were a hundred vampires gathered for the meeting. Some were seated in the circle while others stood beside their chairs. They talked among themselves, only quieting when the chairman spoke.
“I hereby call this special tribunal to order.” The chairman sat behind a long desk. One vampire stood on his right and another on his left.
“Yea!” The congregation took their seats.
The female vampire sitting on the right of the chairman rose. “Honorable Chairman and fellow members I have called this assembly to take immediate action about our member Lord Edgefield.”
There were gasps as she mentioned Lord Edgefield’s name. The chairman pounded his speaking staff on the floor to regain the vampires’ attention.
“Yes, we are aware of the murders Lord Edgefield committed the other night. We are ready to hear your charges,” the chairmen said.
The woman looked around the room. “Well, I would first like to explain the reason for the charges before making the charge.” She looked down at the chairman and received a nod of approval. “Last night Lord Edgefield killed two of New York’s high-profile children. Now, the story of their murder is on the front pages of all the newspapers. This is the type of reckless behavior that put us all in danger. That is why I ask for the repossession of his immortality.”
A rumble went around the room at the mention of repossessing a vampire’s immortality. The chairman banged his staff again.
“Order, order. That is a very severe charge. In the 100 years of this society we have never repossessed a member’s immortality. Lord Edgefield is a one of our oldest members. He was brought in by our founder himself, Benjamin Banneker. That said, we do hear and will consider the charges. Who among us wishes to speak in defense of Lord Edgefield?”
The vampire sitting on the other side of the Chairman rose to his feet. “Peace, fellow members. I would like to offer another view on the activities of last night. Lord Edgefield admitted to killing the two young people and drinking their blood and has possibly exposed us. That is true, but, while his behavior was reckless as our fellow member has said, it is not our behavior to strip each other of our lives. Must I remind you that Lord Edgefield is from a different time. He was rescued on the battlefield of the American Revolution. He watched both of his parents being killed. He has been a part of fulfilling the mission of Vamp Phi Vamp. Many of you are new and were not alive during slavery. Slavery was a hard time for us.”
“Please, I object!” the female vampire said as her fangs grew out of her mouth. “We don’t need a history lesson. We know who he is.”
The chairman banged his staff again. “Order please. You are making a very powerful charge and this process must not be run without order.” The younger vampire sat back down and nodded to the chairman.
“That is all. I know we have made sure that you new members know this. I just wanted to remind you of who he is and what we are discussing.” The older member sat back down.
“Thank you for your presentation, but, before we rule on this, I would like to hear from Lord Edgefield.” The chairman looked over in Lord Edgefield’s direction.
Lord Edgefield was dressed in a long brown coat and wore a dignified top hat. He always wore a full suit. He let out a deep breath he had been holding.
“Greetings brothers and sisters. I would like to appeal to you rather than explain and apologize for my actions last night. While they weren’t premeditated, I do not wish to take them back. We are vampires. Yes.” He walked over to the chairman’s table. “For over a hundred years we have protected our people the way our beloved founder wished. We have guarded the likes of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Doing this allowed us to feed our blood lust. Now, we are asked to control what makes us who we are. I cannot submit to that and I caution you all for trying to do the same. Such proposals are the ideas of a foolish youth and nothing more than an attempt to evampulate us.”
Lord Edgefield’s comments caused another rumble of talk as the female vampire accusing him jumped up on the table. She was breathing hard and her fangs and claws were out.
“I will show you the foolish ideas of youth and who is evampulated.”
Lord Edgefield threw off his coat and transitioned into his full vampire form. He extended his arms as webbed wings grew out of his back, his eyes turned red and two long pointed teeth grew out of both his top and bottom jaws. He snarled at her as the two faced each other in the center of the circle.
“Wait a minute!” another old vampire shouted from behind the group. He leaped over the crowd of vampires and landed in between the two ready to fight. “I have an idea that would perhaps help us avoid killing one of our own.”
The energy in the room calmed for a moment giving one of the oldest vampires in the group the floor. The chairmen raised his staff and parted the two.
“What idea do you have to bring to us?” The chairman asked as he retracted his fangs and reverted to his human form.
“As Lord Edgefield admitted, he behaved recklessly and put us all in danger of exposure. We know that would mean an all-out war with other supernaturals. That, I agree, is something that we do not need at this time. Especially, when we are so close to endi
ng the racial torment in this country. This is what Benjamin wanted when he learned this ancient Kemetic science. In Egypt, he learned more than just how to make vampires from the scrolls of Imhotep. He also learned how to preserve life. I know of a place where we could place Lord Edgefield until the time comes when we are finished with our period of compromise. It is under a meat packing plant and he could feed off the blood of the slaughter animals. Then bring him back into a world where he can live free. Lord Edgefield is a vampire from another time. He is like me, a warrior vampire. There may even be a time when we need him.”
“That is an excellent idea,” the chairman rose and held his staff in the air. “All in favor of placing Lord Edgefield into a stasis coffin. Say aye?”
Boom!
The ground shook.
Boom!
The ground shook again.
Over and over the cycle repeated causing Lord Edgefield to open his eyes. It was pitch black and even with his enhanced vampiric eyesight, he couldn’t see anything. The rumbling seemed to stop after what felt like years as he laid in his wooden coffin prison.
He was able to drift back into his hibernation state. Time passed. However, even in his dreams he wondered what he was missing in the world. Feeding off little droplets of pig and cow blood had become more than boring. He had no way of determining how long he had been in stasis, but it was more than enough time to reflect.
He was reckless. His behavior did put the Vamp Phi Vamp society at risk of being exposed. The problem, he understood, was in his creation. In the creation of vampires as a whole. He was a weapon. Nothing more than that. His extended life was for a purpose and not for recreation. Vamp Phi Vamp was the balance. It gave them focus. When they released him and they accomplished the end goal of balancing the world, he planned to conform. He couldn’t see himself terrorizing people who weren’t oppressing others. Plus, he had gotten used to the pig blood. Whatever they were doing it sure put fear in the animals and nothing tastes better than fear-laced blood.
Edgefield was awoken by more rumbling. Shortly after it stopped, the animal blood stopped flowing. Edgefield thought maybe he was being released. He prepared his apology in his head. However, what felt like days passed and nothing happen. He grew hungry without the pig or cow blood. He began to get restless.
Were they trying to kill him? Had they changed their minds?
Edgefield pushed up and banged on the inside of his coffin. Maybe, they could hear him. Maybe, he could make another plea. Maybe if he agreed with them, they would forgive him. He pushed and banged harder. This time some dirt trickled down. He pushed up and the lid of the coffin moved. He started to get excited. A few more pushes and more dirt fell down. Now, he saw light and fresh air. He peeked his head out and took a deep breath.
“Hello.”
He listened but no answer. Maybe they left to get everybody for a welcome tribunal. He had waited too long and there was no need for a celebration. He rolled over on his stomach and pushed up with his back. It was harder than he expected. He pushed so hard that he transitioned into his stronger vampiric state. The lid of the wooden coffin broke through and Edgefield was free of his prison.
As he stood up, he looked around. He was in some sort of smooth rock-walled room. It had large round containers like a wine distillery. The light came from a long bulb that he couldn’t recognize. He was in the future.
He dusted off his clothes and coat. He put on his top hat. Both had stayed pretty fresh after having been in a dirt coffin for God knows how long. He wandered out of the room and made his way to the street.
When he stepped outside, it was night. Cars moved up and down the street. People were dressed in a variety of clothes. The buildings reached to the sky and they were covered in bright lights. He walked around in sheer amazement.
The sound of a horn made him jump. As the car pulled around him, the driver yelled out of the window. “Get outta the way Fredrick Douglass.”
Edgefield then realized he was in the middle of the street. He quickly got himself to the curb. On the sidewalk, he had to dodge people. They were all in a rush. The smell of their blood reminded him of how hungry he was.
Where were the members of the Vamp Phi Vamp society? Why had they not greeted him. He scanned the people to see if any of them were vampires. He found one young person who he could smell was a vampire coming out of a store. This was Edgefield’s chance to show he was the warrior Lord he had been before. And also, that he had learned his lesson.
Edgefield saw a woman walking by herself down a less populated street. He looked up and the vampire kid had noticed he was a vampire as well. Edgefield quickly snuck up behind the woman and as she turned, he opened his coat and said, “I have come to suck your blood.”
The woman didn’t scream as Edgefield had wanted. Instead she reached into her purse and pulled out a gun and shot Edgefield.
“Stand your ground muthafucca!,” she screamed as she fired.
Edgefield fell to the ground as he watched the woman who shot him get in a car and speed away.
“Wow, I haven’t seen anyone try to drink blood from a living person in my afterlife. You must be old.” The young man reached down an offered Edgefield his hand.
“My name is Lord Edgefield and I have just returned from an imprisonment coffin I was put in in 1920.”
“Wow, 100 years ago. It is 2020 now. You must be like the last old vampire.”
The Last Vampire Huntress
Alicia McCalla
My lungs burned, filling with air. I couldn’t slow down. If what I suspected was true, Calvin was going to do something terrible--something prophetic.
A prophecy I dreaded fulfilling.
Tonight, I found the bloodied butcher-knifed note, stuck in the door of my apartment:
Kendra, my beautiful Black Queen, I’ll destroy and kill everything or everyone you chose over me. –Calvin, your King.
I had to try my best to protect my vampire hunters. I was their leader.
I made it to Guild Headquarters next to Atlanta’s West End Production Park. We’d renovated the front area into a Kombucha Brewery. The back was where we held our secret meetings and strategized. I slowed down and was about to enter the warehouse.
Sirens wailed as one of my newbie hunters, Leslie, turned the corner and bolted down the side alley.
I screamed, “Run! Hide!”
I needed her to stay alive in order to avoid the Vampire Huntress prophecy. She turned back with fear in her blue eyes and nodded. Her blond ponytail bounced up and down as she high-tailed it out of there. She knew where to go to be safe. I reached towards the Brewery’s door, but it’d been shattered. My stomach squeezed as I remembered when Calvin and I placed the logo on the door: “The Guild’s Brewery: A Garlic ‘bucha that only a Vampire Hunter Could Love!”
It was Calvin’s idea. I loved the irony.
We’d built a life and a communal family together.
Sam, the Guild’s Sergeant at Arms, stepped out from behind the dumpster, grinning. "Kendra."
He was brown-skinned and stock strong like a linebacker but short. He smiled, fangs dropping down. "So glad you could finally make it."
Shit!
Had Calvin turned the rest of the Guild into vampires?
Double shit!
Hopefully more members than Leslie escaped, or the consequences would be catastrophic.
I was their leader but following me had consequences, especially if they all died. I didn't want to slay Sam, he’d been one of my fiercest supporters and confidant, but I didn't have time for this. Obviously, he couldn't go free.
Sam lunged.
I pulled out my gun, supernaturally fast like my mother taught me before she died too soon.
One shot-one kill.
"I'm sorry," I said and pulled the trigger. The shot, a holy water bullet, went through his brain. His head exploded, and his undead body dropped to the pavement like a sack of potatoes. Sam wouldn't be rising from the undead anymore. The guilt r
ipped through my soul.
With my heart pinched in sadness, I replaced my weapon in the side holster and headed for the busted door, entering Guild headquarters. Broken wood and glass crunched underneath my combat boots. I moved towards the alarm system and punched in the code to cancel. I didn’t want any unsuspecting police officers entering the supernatural world and getting killed. I wouldn’t be much of a protector if that happened.
I glanced around. My once safe space was eerily quiet. Everything was disheveled. The hand-crafted wood tables and chairs, Kombucha display cases, menu chalk board were all destroyed—on purpose, I could tell. My heart drummed in my ears.
No matter what, I’d determined that I would not fulfill the mandated prophecy like my mother and grandmother had done. In my eyes, it wasn’t a divine privilege but a recurrence curse that had been passed down to the women in our royal West African blood line for centuries. I refused to follow the path laid out by the great mother Goddess. I’d rebuild it all, again, first. I wanted my children’s children to know me. I didn’t want to become the vulture symbolizing the vampire huntress displayed on my family’s totem. I wanted to live prophecy free.
Calvin’s mocking laughter sounded further within the back of the warehouse in the Guild’s assembly hall.
Boom!
My body blew backward and slammed into the wall. My ears rang from the explosion and my chest tightened as the air was knocked out of me. Smoke filled the air. I rubbed my eyes, refocusing. I coughed scanning the room.
His unnatural obsession with me set all of this in motion.
After my mother died seven years ago, Calvin became my closest friend, confidant, and first lover. He was my rock and shoulder to cry on. We did everything together—even built the guild together. As time marched forward, my abilities became stronger and I stepped into my role as a leader. Calvin became more and more angry because I was stronger than he was. He wanted to be better at hunting vampires than me and to be the leader instead of following my lead.