A World of Vampires: Volume 2

by Dani Hoots

  The jungle was still hot in the dark of the night, even hotter than the open space where the village stood. It was muggy and I could barely breathe, but that could also be part due to myself starting to hyperventilate. I tried taking slow, deep breaths to calm myself down, but it did not work. Everything began to pile on top of my mind. What was I going to do? Did anyone see me go into the jungle? What if the creature was out there, waiting for me?

  The creature. I suddenly remembered what had brought me out here. It was those eyes, beckoning me. I could barely remember anything up to the point where I snapped out of the trance. No one had warned me a creature could do such a thing. How was this possible? How was any of this possible?

  The asanbosam.

  But that was just a story, wasn’t it? That’s what Thomas had said. I didn’t even know what an asanbosam was, he never told me, no one had told me. It would have been easier if people had just been honest to me in the first place, then I would have known what I was up against in the first place, and then maybe I wouldn’t have been easily tricked into coming to the forest.

  Eight eyes. I had remembered eight eyes. Did the asanbosam have eight eyes? I couldn’t imagine a creature so large with eight eyes, just like a spider. I started shaking. I hated spiders, and I hated worrying like this, being so lost. There had to be a way out of here and I needed to find it quick.

  Starting forward, I hoped that I picked the right direction to head back to the village. I took cool deep breaths to keep myself from panicking and thought about my sister and Thomas. They were counting on me and I couldn’t let them down. Not after everything. I felt a tear drop down from my eye. I rubbed the rest away. I couldn’t waste time crying, I could do that when I got out of here. Yes, I could panic later.

  With every step I took, I swore I heard something follow me, up in the trees. I looked up but saw nothing but vines. I prayed they were vines, at least, and not some snake that was going to attack me. Oh why, oh why did I begin to think about snakes? I hated snakes. I also hated spiders, and really anything that could attack me at the moment. Even the things that I swore were fictional.

  I heard a deep growl coming from my left. I turned to find two glowing eyes staring straight back at me. It wasn’t the same as what had drawn me into the jungle, but that didn’t mean that this wasn’t as deadly. I swallowed slowly and began to back away. It was in the trees and I could barely see its body. The growl was steady and didn’t change.

  I slowly backed away from it, listening closely to see if it would charge at me. It didn’t. I kept backing away from it but it did not move. It smelled awful, like rotting flesh mixed with something even more grotesque. I could hardly breathe as the scent filled my senses. I wanted to throw up but had no time to do such a thing. It burnt my eyes and I wished that I was back at the village, safe in Thomas’ arms. Suddenly I felt something grab my wrist. I screamed aloud in panic.

  “Shh! It’s only me,” I turned to find Thomas at my side. At least one wish had come true. “We need to get out of here before it finds us.”

  “But it’s right—” before I could finish the sentence, the creature jumped between the trees and landed a few feet from where we both stood. I let out another scream as Thomas pulled me away before its long claws could swipe at me. In the light of his torch, they almost appeared to look like iron hooks. How was that even possible? I held back the tears as I ran with Thomas further into the jungle far away from the strange monstrous creature who was gaining on us. Whether or not it was in the direction to or away from the village, I did not know, or even care, for the only thing that mattered now was outrunning this fiend

  “Keep running, it is still after us!” Thomas exclaimed. I ran as hard as I could, not caring that my legs were tired from all the walking and standing I did throughout the day, not to mention how exhausted I already was from our travels. No, I pushed it all away in the back of my mind and didn’t listen to whatever my body demanded of me. I listened to my instincts which said to get the hell out of here.

  After a few minutes, if not a half an hour, we came upon a creek. Thomas stopped and we caught our breath for a moment.

  “What... what was that?” I asked while taking deep breaths.

  “That would be the folklore you were laughing at me for believing,” he panted. “It is the asanbosam.”

  Hearing him say it made me even more worried. So it wasn’t just in my head, that creature had been something nightmares were made out of. It was a real creature that wanted to do nothing but kill. “But what is it exactly? That wasn’t some ordinary animal.”

  “It’s the Akan people’s version of a vampire, of Dracula,” he explained.

  I stared at him blank-minded. “Are you trying to tell me that vampires are real? There’s no way, they are just part of myths! Silly legends made to explain the decomposition of humans after death. Science that wasn’t understood made into myth.”

  Thomas shook his head. “No, this being is real. I encountered it last time I was here, but it always stayed in the jungle which is why I didn’t want to do anything involving this jungle.”

  “You can’t be serious, it had to have been an animal,” I whispered, my mind still trying to process it all.

  He shook his head. “No, you saw it, that was not an animal, that was a demon. It attacks for the pleasure of it, not for food like an animal would. You saw the body of that boy last night.”

  “But how is this possible? What are we going to do?”

  Thomas put his arms on my shoulder and leaned in closer. “Listen, it’s okay,” he kissed my forehead. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I lo—” He made a choking noise and slumped over on me. Blood was dripping out of his mouth and stomach. I let out a scream as the head of the asanbosam appeared behind him, a low hissing noise coming from its mouth. It opened its mouth, showing sharp metal-like fangs. Its arms were like sharp hooks, slicing into everything it touched. It pulled out its hook-like arm from Thomas’ body and swung out at me. I quickly backed out of its way and started running away from it.

  I didn’t know if I should call out for help or if the creature would be able to find me easier that way. I was already making loud noises as I ran, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt.

  “Help me! Someone please help me!” I called out into the darkness. “Please! Anyone!”

  Twigs snagged on my hair as I ran. I screamed, thinking it was the asanbosam, but found it simply to be a branch. I started crying in fear. “Someone,” I whispered. “Please.”

  “I am here child, you need not worry any longer,” a young man’s voice said. I peered around but saw nothing.

  “Who are you?” I called out.

  He let out a light laugh. “I suppose you might not know, given your background.” I heard the sound of something moving through the bushes. I peered around but saw nothing.

  “Where are you, why can’t I see you?” I asked.

  “That’s because I haven’t made myself visible to you,” suddenly I saw something appear in front of me. I let out another scream. A humongous spider stood there, tall on eight legs, its eight eyes staring straight at me.

  Those were the eight eyes that drew me to this jungle.

  “Don’t be afraid, child, I will not hurt you. I am here to help.”

  I couldn’t move, frozen in the spot I stood. Why was there a giant spider in front of me and why could he talk? Air escaped my lungs and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

  “I am the spirit Anansi, here to help you. I have been watching you while you were here, you were drawn to the jungle by me. You were supposed to be protected since the asanbosam should know that he cannot hurt outsiders. I was going to try and help both you and your friend, but I was too late for him. I am sorry for that.”

  I thought back to Thomas’s crumpled, lifeless form on the jungle floor, where he was probably still bleeding out onto the floor of the jungle. I couldn’t believe he was gone, it all happened so fast that I couldn’t wrap my frantic, scared mi
nd around the very idea. I just wanted to get out of this jungle, I just wanted to go home. My family was right, I shouldn’t have left, if I had known it would cost Thomas his life I would have never have come here.

  “Why did you bring me here?” I asked. “Why would you bring me here like that?”

  “It is hard to explain, but I saw your need to understand what was going on. I didn’t think that the creature would attack, I had hoped to bring you here to show you the truth of this place. But that has taken a terrible turn and I am sorry for that.”

  But that wasn’t the case. I hadn’t known about the dangers here. That was why I was here because of my ardent passion for my vocation, and my complicated feelings for Thomas.

  “I will help you escape, you must hurry, I will distract the asanbosam—” he began.

  “Na! Papa!” I heard a young girl call. It was the girl from earlier, she must have been looking for her brother still, even after finding out that he was dead the night before. “Na! Papa!”

  Oh God, I thought, the asanbosam was out there with the girl. I darted towards where she screamed for her parents.

  “Wait,” called out the Anansi. “That is where the asanbosam is! It will kill you!”

  I didn’t listen, I couldn’t just stand by and let that little girl die. I hurried towards her.

  I found her not too far from where she had found the boy the other day. She was sitting on the ground, crying. “Na. Papa.”

  “It’s alright,” I said as I picked her up. “I will take you home.”

  That’s when it came. I could hear it’s hissing as it crawled down the tree. It exposed its sharp fangs.

  “No!” I yelled out. “I will not let you hurt her!”

  I couldn’t run faster than it, not while carrying this child. I doubted if the child could run fast enough either. I used my body as a shield to protect her from the creature. It was the only way.

  The creature pierced its arm into my back and I let out a dying scream. It felt like a knife as it split my vertebrae into two, slicing down along my back. I slumped over the girl, making sure the creature couldn’t get to her. With what I thought was my dying breath, I made sure she was safe.

  “Be gone asanbosam!” I heard a young voice say. It was the Anansi, he was back.

  I opened my eyes to find him chasing off the creature. When I knew it was safe, I let go of the child, and fell to the ground. I could feel my energy escaping me as I couldn’t move a muscle, everything I had left I used to keep the girl safe. Now it was my time to go, just as Thomas had. I slowly closed my eyes.

  “My child, you were brave to do such a thing, but stupid to risk your life. I cannot save your body now, your wounds are too deep, but for saving this girl, I can save your soul,” he explained.

  I tried to listen to the rest of what he was saying, what would be done to me, but I only caught part of it. Part of me just wanted to die, the man I loved, that I knew I loved now that he was gone, was dead. I would never have him back and everything we had talked of doing, everything we had planned was no more. Having the choice now, and being in so much pain, I didn’t think I could go through. But a word stuck out to me that the Anansi said.

  “You could save lives just like the man you were with, or the child that died last night. If you accept, none would ever have to suffer again.”

  No one would have to suffer again. No one would have to go through what I was going through ever again. The thought was enticing, but what would come of me? The Anansi was saying something, but I couldn’t make most of it out, I could feel my soul drifting.

  “If you want to continue saving lives like you did this one, just say the word,” he ended.

  I nodded, half out of it, half not knowing what he was saying to me. But I didn’t want anyone else to suffer. “Yes.”

  A giant spider leg covered my eyes. “Then by the spirits, it will be done.”

  And everything went black.

  When I opened my eyes again, I didn’t understand what had happened. I couldn’t move physically but I felt I could travel anywhere in the jungle. I could feel every creature, every living thing as if I was a part of it. The wind traveled through me and I with it. I tried to speak and it seemed the only sound that was made was that of the leaves and branches moving around. It took me a bit, but I finally figured it out.

  I was a spirit.

  Once I understood this, I heard the laughter of the Anansi. He had known all along I would say yes, it just wanted someone to protect this jungle along with it. And I, out of all the people, was chosen for this bleak task. Why, I still didn’t know. It could have been my longing for adventure, or it could have been my loss of a loved one on top of my virtuous act of self-sacrifice. But I remembered that it was the Anansi that had brought me to this place in the beginning. Was this what it had been planning the entire time?

  I was mad and confused for a very long time, but at last I got the hang of it. I could use the plants around me to stop the creatures from hurting the humans, and vice versa. It was my destiny, I supposed, to be here, if you believed such a thing. I had always sought adventure, to have a purpose and I guess this was it.

  It seemed like ages have passed since I stepped on my own two legs, felt the sun on my skin, and the wind in my hair. But that is alright, I accepted this as my fate. For the longest time I worried about my family and wondered what they were going through when I never returned back, or at least alive. If I remembered right, some people came and retrieved both my body and Thomas’. They had probably long passed away by now, and now my story was just that: a story.

  The only regret I had in accepting this was that although I could protect those who came in the forest, I couldn’t protect the one that I truly loved. Thomas was dead and nothing I could do could reverse that. It was my fault that he was in the jungle in the first place. I hated myself for that. It had been my fault.

  The jungle is getting smaller, I fear, as more and more humans exist in this world. They forget such things that go bump in the night, as they did even when I was human. Although more people come into the jungle, it is because they want to use it and hurt it more than just seek an adventure. The asanbosam sleeps more often than not and rarely finds any human to feast on due to my intervention, and the fact that the humans are more harmful than it. I was brought here to protect the humans from the creature of the jungle, yet, irony has it, there is no one to protect the jungle from the humans. I’m afraid that the jungle may die soon, along with the asanbosam. It feels like I am slowly dying, and that one day my spirit will be no more. So I write this not as a warning to the creatures that are in the dark, but the darkness that is in ourselves. Why can’t we open our eyes and see the truth of what we are doing to this world?

  Maybe I just say this because I am afraid to die, something I share with everything else in the world. So many questions are running through my mind in the meantime. Will it be peaceful? Or will it be as if I never existed? Will I finally be reunited with the people that I love?

  Only time will tell.

  Death is an interesting thing, especially when one has been drowning in blood since the day they were born. That is what I feel I have been doing all this time, falling deeper and deeper into a dark ocean of red. It seemed that my life was plagued with the color of death, and I am destined to live life out as such a vile, indecent creature. It is my punishment for being born.

  Nine hundred years have passed since the King’s Crusade occurred, the war I had reluctantly found myself a part of. Now as I watch the people from the desert in the grips of perpetual war with one another, it never seemed like the city of Jerusalem has had any moment of respite from the ongoing chaos within the city’s confines. There always seems to be some kind of war involving the city and its people and some radicalized group. My heart aches at the thought of just how long these wars have been going on; they started even before we showed up so long ago. Was this place cursed for all of eternity? Or would this city perhaps see more peace
ful days ahead in its uncertain future?

  Not that what happened to the city really affects me any longer. I rarely even venture inside the walls, for my mistress has forbid it unless she was with me, and she hated going into that city anyways. Even after all this time, I’m still not quite sure as to why. I figure it’s because of the memories of what happened to her there, causing her own fated exile from paradise. It could also be because that fact that she was afraid of being caught, as if someone somehow would recognize her for what she was now. Instead we live out in the desert, in her hidden palace that no one can see unless she allows it. That’s how I ran into her so long ago, she wanted me to come here and stay by her side indefinitely.

  We would hunt at night, when the darkness ruled, so that those traveling would not see us coming. With modern technology, however, it seems that the nights are getting lighter and lighter, making it nearly impossible for my kind to hide sometimes. Once I thought we had been caught, as we were greatly outnumbered. Lo and behold, my mistress was able to take them all down. It was quite a sight to see.

  I never quite understood why she has kept me around this long, as I didn’t really bring anything new to the table. I was strong, yes, but nothing compared to her. Over the years she has had a few different slaves, just like me, but in the end they would either get caught or killed by others, killed by her, or I would be ordered to kill them myself. I never quite understood this, as she never had a reason to have me execute them. It felt as if it was just a whim she would have and she wanted to see something die, no matter what it was. She never had that whim about me, though, and I did my best not to question the reasons as to why I was exempted.