Tales of the Once and Future King

by Anthony Marchetta

  Lauren was screaming at the top of her lungs, flailing madly as the dirty suited man from earlier dragged her out of the arcade.

  Charlie’s head swam for a minute as he tried to get his bearings. He was disoriented from the doors and the sudden reality that there actually was something terrible happening. There was no way a man as skinny and sickly looking as that guy should’ve been able to carry Lauren. He looked like he’d break in half if you breathed on him wrong.

  But there he was, bodily yanking her along the concrete, one hand gripping her upper arm near the shoulder. She was kicking and punching at any part of him she could reach, but it didn’t seem to be harming him at all. The man saw Charlie watching them, and grinned at him. His teeth were red and pointy. And his eyes—well, he looked like he was crazy enough to be afraid of aliens living on Mount Everest, too.

  Charlie started, shocked at what he was seeing. And then the man turned and started climbing up the side of the fake castle, pulling Lauren with him as if she weighed no more than a rag doll. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that he couldn’t let Lauren out of his sight.

  He scrambled to his feet and looked around for something to help him. His backpack was on the ground above him. It had been scraped off him when he’d gone over the edge into the drainage ditch. He wished he had a golf club, but all of them were locked away at the front of the course.

  “Charlie! Charlie, help me!” Lauren screamed. Her feet dangled in the air and she desperately tried to pry loose the iron grip on her arm. Her attacker’s hold stayed tight, but he was starting to tire. He struggled to climb any higher while Lauren writhed like an angry cat in his grasp.

  “I will! I am!” Charlie shouted back, climbing out of the ditch as fast as he could. He wasn’t a jock, but he was pleased to find when he needed it he wasn’t a total weakling.

  Quickly he unzipped the backpack and grabbed the heaviest thing he could find - the physics book. It had to weigh at least five pounds. He hoped that all the summer months playing frisbee with the boy across the street would result in something.

  He ran towards the wall, pitching the book as hard as he could. The upside to it was that it made a heavy weapon, and that was the downside to it, too. He prayed he would at least get something out of the throw.

  It was not a perfect shot. The book hit the man in the left ankle. Hardly a critical blow, but it wasn’t a complete waste. His foot slipped on the fake stone surface and he slammed into the wall. He swung his arm around, trying to keep from falling while still holding onto Lauren, but that combined with her mad thrashing was enough for his hand to slip. Lauren slid from his grasp and fell.

  Charlie leapt forward to catch her, but the result was not what he’d hoped for. It certainly didn’t work how it did in the movies. Lauren hit him, hard, and he collapsed under her and hit the concrete painfully for the second time that evening.

  At least he had broken Lauren’s fall, he told himself through a haze of pain. That soothed the ego pain a small amount, though it did little for the physical damage. He grunted as she rolled off of him, leaping to her feet. She reached down and grabbed his hand to help him up. His hand shook as she grasped it. Her touching his hand was almost scarier than the angry, superhuman man.

  “Vampire!” Lauren shouted to him, still out of breath. Charlie didn’t argue with her. It was as good an explanation as any for now, whether it was true or not. Nothing made sense at the moment anyway. He climbed to his feet, chest still screaming from the impact. They kept running together, leaping over the drainage ditch hand in hand. Charlie didn’t have much of a plan, but he wanted to get as far from that man as possible.

  There was a terrible snarl from the direction of the castle, and the vampire launched himself from the side of the building. He landed so close in front of them that Charlie had to skid to a stop, yanking on Lauren’s arm so they wouldn’t crash into him.

  Up close the man’s fangs were much more obvious, and his thin, papery skin was pulled taut over his skull. He looked even more emaciated than he had when Charlie had first seen him earlier in the night.

  “What do you want?” Charlie yelled at the man. He pushed Lauren behind him, not sure what to do but knowing that he had to keep her safe.

  “I’m starving,” the man hissed, licking his lips again, eyeing them both hungrily. “Burning on the inside, and so hungry,” he said, pacing in front of them with manic energy. He moved towards them, dirty hands grasping at Charlie.

  “Woah, woah!” Charlie shouted, holding his hands up. He was a little surprised when the vampire hesitated for a moment, pausing. He kept his hands in front of him, ready to do his best to push the man away.

  “Dude, we can get you a burger if you need it. You need money? I can give you money,” Maybe he was just a crazy man that seemed much scarier in the dark. That didn’t explain the strength but Charlie could go for whatever made the whole situation seem less insane. He reached slowly with one hand towards his pocket, intending on handing him his wallet. Behind him Lauren was clicking away frantically on her phone. Charlie was slightly annoyed, wondering what she was doing. This was not an Instagram moment.

  “I was in the dark, in the ground. Burning in my head and in my throat. Such burning, and so hungry,” The man mumbled, his eyes fixated on the arteries in Charlie’s neck. His lips twitched back over his teeth as he thought about feasting on the blood pumping there. Then his eyes caught sight of the bloody scrapes on Charlie’s hands and arms.

  “Blood,” he murmure softly, and a shiver went up Charlie’s spine. “I need blood or I will die again,” he said, louder. When his gaze flicked from Charlie’s wounds to his eyes, Charlie knew it was done. He could see the tiny slivers of that man’s humanity swallowed up by an endless hunger that not even the rarest burger would quench. There was no longer a man there to appeal to for mercy. Only a monster that feasted on blood and death.

  The man moved in, insanely fast, hitting Charlie’s outstretched hand. He could feel the man’s individual ribs against his palm. Despite his decrepit body, he hit with the force of a freight train. Charlie cursed and pushed against him, his other hand coming around as he braced his legs to try and hold him off.

  And then Lauren’s hand, still holding her phone, flashed in front of his face. The screen was a blur of light as it flew past his nose. She held it up in front of the attacking vampire. Charlie was about to shout something derisive about it, but the vampire stopped dead in his tracks. And then to his surprise, he shied away from Lauren’s phone in its sparkly purple case.

  Was it the light? That was a wussy vampire if the phone light was driving him away. But Charlie didn’t care if he was, that only meant their chances for survival were better. The phone gave them an opening to run. And run he did, blindly reaching behind himself for Lauren’s arm to pull her with him.

  “What did you do?” he demanded as they ran, and Lauren showed him the screen. There was a picture of a crucifix loaded up on her phone, one of the ornate ones from a cathedral. Charlie started to laugh at the ludicrousness of it all, but was only able to let out a handful of unhinged giggles. After that he was huffing too hard from running to do anything other than breathe.

  “Just let me eat!” the man screamed as Charlie and Lauren ran from him. The words gave Charlie goosebumps as they echoed off the empty spaces around the minigolf park. He was still near the castle at the back of the park, and now they were halfway up the hill. Even with their lead time, however, Charlie was still afraid the vampire would be able to catch him. He had read plenty of books and seen plenty of movies about vampires, but he had no way to gauge what abilities he actually had. He hoped super speed was not one of them.

  They continued to run, up the hill and straight through the various putt-putt holes, not even following the winding path as they fled. They had to dodge holes and statues and leap over the rope fencing that separated parts of the park. Lauren was almost matching speed with him.

  The wind was blowing fi
ercely, carrying the howls from the woods to them. The barking sounded closer. After a moment, Charlie realized they were getting closer. A pack of huge hounds was charging up the other side of the hill, heading straight for them. Charlie froze when he saw them, stopping so suddenly that he almost lost his balance and fell. Lauren slammed into his shoulder, unable to stop quickly enough.

  The dogs were massive, and there were at least half a dozen of them, maybe more. They were moving too fast for Charlie to count. For the first time that night, he actually felt hopeless that they were going to escape this madhouse of a night. He had been having a bad day before, but it had truly turned into a terrible one.

  He could make out some details as they approached. Two were massive grey-black wolf dogs, and the rest all looked like various breeds of hunting dogs. At the front of the pack was a magnificent white shepherd dog, with bright blue eyes that shone in the darkness.

  As they rushed at them, Charlie drew himself up as tall as he possibly could, determined to protect Lauren. His father was a soldier who died in the desert across the sea. He wanted to die a man, a protector like him. Not like a boy. And with wild dogs in front of him and a starving vampire behind him, Charlie felt like his chances of getting out were pretty low.

  But at the last moment, the pack of dogs broke around them like a wave on the rocks. Charlie exhaled after a moment, the sight of almost a dozen snarling hounds inches away from his face imprinted on his eyes.

  He swung around to follow their progress, and spotted their mentally unstable stalker. He’d made it up the hill and he was leaping at Lauren. She screamed again, but the white shepherd leading the pack of dogs hit him in midair before he could touch her. He went flying, landing on the ground near the sign for hole thirteen. The entire pack of dogs followed the white dog, piling on top of the starving man.

  In lore, only the sun, a stake through the heart, or beheading a vampire would kill it. The dogs could not do any of these things. If Charlie fled now, the vampire might kill them. And what if he got away? The vampire would not stop until he had feasted. The easy thing to do would be to run. The cowardly thing to do would be to run.

  But Charlie had never picked the easy way. That’s why he’d even had the ridiculous AP Physics book to throw at the monster earlier. And this was far more important than a science class in high school. It was time to find his courage.

  The dogs were savaging the vampire, but he was fighting to get to his feet. He grabbed one of the canines by the collar and whipped it around, throwing it down the hill. The dog hit the ground with a thud and a yelp, but was back on his feet quickly. He returned to the tussle as if nothing had happened.

  “We have to kill it,” Charlie turned to Lauren. Her dark eyes were wide, and her face was so pale that it shone in the dim solar lights. She hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.

  “He’ll kill the dogs,” she whispered, her voice shaking.

  But how to do it? He didn’t carry a sword. The closest thing he had was a golf club, and that wasn’t sharp enough for the job. It was many, many hours until dawn, and the vampire was too strong for them to subdue, even with the help of the mysterious dog pack. His eyes frantically roamed around the landscape, looking for something - anything - to help.

  “Stake him!” Lauren suddenly breathed, pointing behind Charlie. He swung around to see what she was pointing at. Right behind him was the jousting knights of hole thirteen, near the pond obstacle that made up the next hole. His eyes focused on the tip of the faded red and yellow lance. That would work as a stake. Lauren was a genius. Charlie ran for it, dodging the struggling mass of fur and cadaverous limbs. He reached out for it, attempting to snap the end of the lance off. If he could get it quickly, then he could stake the vampire while the dogs held him down.

  Unfortunately it was not as flimsy as it looked, despite being old and sunbleached. Charlie could not break it. He cursed angrily about it, but his epithets were interrupted as the vampire took a swing at him. The demon was back on his feet now. One of the big tan dogs leapt up and latched onto the blood-sucker’s arm. Charlie desperately ran forward and tried to pull the lance out of the statue’s hand, but it wasn’t budging either. Why did it, of all the objects in the park, have to be the one thing that was sturdy and in good repair?

  Charlie turned back to look at Lauren, trying to make sure she was safe. He did not like leaving her unguarded. As if they read his mind, the two wolf hounds broke away from pack, one coming to stand protectively on each side of Lauren. They were protecting her now that he was gone. He looked at her for any other suggestions. He was unsure of what to do if he couldn’t get the lance loose. He had no sword to behead the beast, and it wasn’t like he carried stakes around in his pocket.

  There was a blur of white that dashed passed him. Charlie tracked it for a moment, realizing that it was the shepherd. The snowy dog was running towards the hedge behind Lauren. When he reached it he began to bark loudly. There, parked in its usual place hidden behind the holly bushes, was a rickety old golf cart. They hardly ever used it; the owner didn’t want to pay for the gas and all of his employees were young enough to walk. A lightbulb went off in his head. If he wasn’t strong enough to break the lance, then he had to take the vampire to the stake.

  “Hold him there!” Charlie shouted at the dogs, feeling foolish but hoping that they actually could understand him. The big white shepherd looked at him for a moment, cocking his furry head to the side. Then he obeyed, running back across the path to latch onto the vampire’s leg. The other dogs circled around the starving devil, barking and snapping at his limbs to keep him in place. One of the dogs yelped as he smashed him in the face.

  Charlie turned and ran, pelting across the space between him and the cart. He blew past Lauren, who turned and tried to follow him. He didn’t have the breath to tell her to stay away, so he had to move quickly.

  He leapt into the golf cart, fishing the keys out of the net pocket under the steering wheel. Then he turned the ignition, slamming it into reverse, pulling the hardest and fastest three point turn of his life.

  Now he was facing the battle again. The white dog was faithfully thrashing the vampire, refusing to let go and holding him into place in front of the knight. It was now or never. Charlie slammed his foot down on the gas, hoping the little old golf cart could get fast enough. How fast did golf carts go anyway? He wondered as it bounced across the ground. His teeth rattled as it shot forward over the uneven mini-golf course. Lauren was shouting his name as he drove past, her face pale with horror.

  “Move, move, move!” He shouted at the dogs. As soon as they heard his voice, all but the shepherd obeyed, backing away from the bloodsucker. Charlie held his breath, willing the big alpha dog to move.

  At the last second the white dog let go of the vampire, shooting out of the way of the cart as it barreled towards him. Charlie forced himself to keep his eyes open to make sure he stayed on target. The vehicle hit one last ditch that launched it slightly airborne before it slammed into the unsuspecting monster. Charlie muttered a prayer under his breath that he was going fast enough.

  The final seconds of the crash seemed to move in slow motion. The vampire saw the cart flying in his direction, but it was too late. The force of the collision between him and the golf cart drove him backwards. Charlie’s stomach flopped and his bones jarred with the impact. His chest slammed hard into the steering wheel, knocking his breath away. Lauren screamed.

  But it worked. The vampire crunched onto the lance, pierced through the heart. He began to keen wildly, loud enough that the sound hurt Charlie’s ears. The hounds began to howl again. Lauren was shouting his name again. Blood bubbled out of the vampire’s mouth and the wound in his chest.

  Charlie crawled out of the golf cart and onto the ground, returning to Lauren’s side. She reached for him, relieved that he was ok. He held her protectively as the terrible shrieking continued. The dogs closed in around them, using their bodies as a barrier to danger. The awful sound
drove the teenagers to their knees. Charlie wondered if it would ever stop.

  Finally the vampire fell silent, his head hanging grotesquely to the side. Small tendrils of smoke curled around his body, coming from the stake in his chest. Unnaturally congealed black blood gathered in the grass beneath him.

  Charlie stared at the body for a long moment, waiting for it to move again. But it did not. The dogs relaxed around him, drifting out of the tight circle they had formed. One of them even playfully licked Lauren’s face.

  What now? Charlie wondered. He had no idea what to do about this. They were safe now, but how would he explain the dead body to his boss? The wrecked golf cart? Even he was having trouble wrapping his head around the events of the evening.

  The white shepherd turned his attention to Charlie, pinning him with his gaze. He was obviously expecting something, but Charlie didn’t know what. He curiously looked at all the dogs for a moment.

  Now that the danger was past, Charlie noticed that they were all wearing woven leather collars. Each one had a silver name plate attached, and he took a moment read them all. The brown and white hunting dogs bore the names Glythmyr and Ledewic. The short-haired grey and black furred dogs were Drudwyn, Aned, and Aethelm. The three tan dogs who all looked alike were Glas, Glessic, and Gleisad. Gwyddrud and Astrus were etched on the collars around the neck of the massive wolf dogs. And at the head of the pack, the snow white shepherd with the icy eyes had a tag that read Cabal. Charlie had never seen dogs with names such as those. Where had they come from?

  Charlie was still sitting on the concrete sidewalk amongst the dogs when there was a flash of light that blinded him. It came from the direction of the little shallow pond at the next hole. The street lamps around them flickered and died. Now they could see the stars above them clearly—it would be a beautiful sight if he wasn’t afraid of what was going to happen next.